Innovation in Carrier Aviation

Innovation in Carrier Aviation: AircraftCarrier History, World War I and II, Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer),Royal Navy and American Navy, Jet Engines, Flexdeck, Catapults,Carrier Aviation Technology

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Progressive Management

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Copyright 2016 Progressive Management

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CONTENTS

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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Foreword, by Carnes Lord

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE - BuAer before World War II

CHAPTER TWO - BuAer in World War II

CHAPTER THREE - The Potential of the BigBomber

CHAPTER FOUR - Royal Navy Wartime Experienceand Analysis

CHAPTER FIVE - Adopting Jet Engines

CHAPTER SIX - British and American Prospectsafter the War

CHAPTER SEVEN - The Flexdeck

CHAPTER EIGHT - Catapults: Choosing an Optionunder Pressure

CHAPTER NINE - Analysis

Conclusion

APPENDIX A - The Physics of JetPropulsion

APPENDIX B - The Impact of Jet Aircraft onCarriers

APPENDIX C - Problem Solving withinBureaucracies

APPENDIX D - Chronology

Bibliography

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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Adm. Admiral

AEW airborne early warning

ALCO American Locomotive Company

BuAer Bureau of Aeronautics

BuOrd Bureau of Ordnance

BuShips Bureau of Ships

CCA carrier-controlled approach

Capt. Captain

Cdr. Commander

CIC combat information center

CinC Commander in Chief

CINCPAC Commander in Chief, U.S. PacificFleet [in World War II]

CNO Chief of Naval Operations

CNR Chief of Naval Research

CO Commanding Officer

CV aircraft carrier

CVAN attack aircraft carrier,nuclear-powered

DCNO (Air) Deputy Chief of Naval Operationsfor Air

DCNO (Logistics) Deputy Chief of NavalOperations for Logistics

DNC Director of Naval Construction

EIC Engineer-in-Chief

FAA Fleet Air Arm

FBC Future Building Committee

ft./sec. feet per second

FY fiscal year

g acceleration of gravity

GE General Electric

GLOMB glider bomb

hp horsepower

HTP hydrogen peroxide

IJN Imperial Japanese Navy

JATO jet-assisted takeoff

lb. pound

LSO landing signal officer

Lt. Lieutenant

Lt. Cdr. Lieutenant Commander

MAP Ministry of Aircraft Production

MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mod. modification

mph miles per hour

NACA National Advisory Committee forAeronautics

NAD Naval Aircraft Department

NAMC Naval Air Material Center

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NDRC National Defense Research Committee

ONI Office of Naval Intelligence

OPNAV Office of the Chief of NavalOperations

OSD(NA) Office of the Secretary of Defense(Net Assessment)

PRO Public Records Office

psi pounds per square inch

R&D research and development

RAE Royal Aircraft Establishment

RAF Royal Air Force

repr. reprinted by

RG record group

RN Royal Navy

SAM surface-to-air missile

SCB Ship Characteristics Board

TACAN Tactical Air Navigation

USAF U.S. Air Force

USN U.S. Navy

WOD wind over the deck

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Acknowledgments

Our main sources for the study were RoyalNavy records held by the Public Records Office (PRO), U.S. Navypapers held by the National Archives and by the Aviation HistoryOffice of the Naval History and Heritage Command, records of theGrumman Aircraft Corporation held in the Northrop Grumman archives,memoirs of Royal Navy (RN) and U.S. Navy (USN) personnel, memoirsof American aviation engineers, and oral histories of Americansinvolved in the development of jet aircraft and modern carrieraviation. We also consulted books and articles that were wellresearched.

In obtaining this material, we were assistedby the following individuals: Dr. Evelyn Cherpak, of the Naval WarCollege; Dr. Curtis Utz and Dr. Timothy Francis, of the NavalHistory and Heritage Command; Dr. Hill Goodspeed, of the NavalAviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida; Lt. Cdr. Peter J. Hardy, RN(Ret.), of HMS Heron; and Ms. Susan Dearing, of the Fleet Air ArmMuseum. All were generous with their time and their expertise. Nonebears responsibility for any errors in this study.

Vice Adm. Robert Dunn, USN (Ret.), also readan early draft of the study and alerted us to several sources wehad missed, including Farnborough and the Fleet Air Arm, byGeoffrey Cooper. Professor Donald Chisholm of the Naval War Collegeand Dr. Jeffrey G. Barlow of the Naval History and Heritage Commandalso shared their insights.

Ms. G. F. Siletchnik of the Naval UnderseaWarfare Center graciously constructed the graphs in appendix B. Mr.Trent Hone organized the manuscript.

The study on which this monograph is basedwas commissioned by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (NetAssessment) in the fall of 2006 as part of that office'slongstanding support for studies of military innovation. In somesense, the OSD(NA) project was a follow-on to an earlier study bythe present coauthors, published in 1999 as American & BritishAircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 by the Naval InstitutePress.

In the mid-1980s, Andrew Marshall, thedirector of the Office of Net Assessment in the Office of theSecretary of Defense, encouraged a number of investigators toexamine cases of innovation in the U.S. armed forces and in thearmed forces of other countries. His encouragement, coupled withthe financial support of his office, led to a number of studies,among which was the book American & British Aircraft CarrierDevelopment, 1919-1941 (Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press,1999), written by the authors of the study that you are about toread.