Leo Marriott - US Naval Aviation 1898–1945: The Pioneering Years to the Second World War: Rare Photographs from Naval Archives

The Pioneering Years to the Second World War

RARE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM NAVAL ARCHIVES

LEO MARRIOTT

US Navy ship designations: US Navy ships were (and still are) identified by a combination of letters indicating the ships role followed by a sequential number for that type of ship. Role letters included BB (Battleship), CA and CL (Heavy and Light Cruisers) and DD (Destroyer). The first US aircraft carrier (USS Langley ) was designated CV-1, the letters CV standing for Carrier Heavier than Air (to distinguish it from ships designed to support airship operations), and subsequent carriers received sequential numbers. After the Second World War, the prefix was changed in some cases to reflect specialised roles, including CVS (anti-submarine carrier) and CVA (attack carrier). Designations for other classes of aircraft carrier included CVL (Light Aircraft Carrier) and CVE (Escort Carrier).

US Navy aircraft and squadron designations: In 1922, a system of aircraft designations was introduced which remained in place until 1962, when US Navy and USAF systems were merged. An aircraft type was designated by a system of letters and numbers that indicated the function or role, the model sequence number and the manufacturer. For example, the F2B was the second (2) Fighter (F) design by Boeing (B). Carrier-based aircraft roles were defined as Fighter (F), Bomber (B), Scout (S) or Observation (O). Sometimes these could be combined (e.g SB Scout Bomber) or qualified (e.g. TB Torpedo Bomber). In the case of the first design by a manufacturer, the numeric sequence number was omitted (e.g. the Boeing FB). The letters indicating the role or function were also applied to US Navy squadrons such as VF-5 (Fighting squadron 5) or VT-3 (Torpedo squadron 3). A supplementary letter might indicate an additional function, such as VF-3B, which also had a bombing role. USMC squadrons inserted an M after the number, for example, VF-3M, but later, in 1937, the M preceded the function letter (e.g. VMF-10). These aircraft and squadron designations are used throughout this book.

Introduction

I n August 1945, off the coast of Japan, the Navy was able to deploy the greatest naval force the world had ever seen. Its strength lay not in lines of towering battleships but in widely spread task forces, each centred on groups of four or more aircraft carriers. Although the Second World War was eventually brought to a dramatic end by the dropping of two atomic bombs, the carriers and aircraft of the US Navy had already completely destroyed or neutralised the once formidable Imperial Japanese Navy and were now pounding Japan itself in preparation for Operation Olympic the invasion of the Japanese homeland, which fortunately became unnecessary when Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945. By that time the US Navy was established as the most powerful in the world, a position it retains to this day, again by virtue of its unequalled carrier air strength.

It is amazing to realise that this state of affairs in 1945 had been achieved in only forty-two years since the Wright brothers first tentative flights and only thirty-four years after the US Navy had obtained its first powered aircraft. The unfolding story of this rapid progress is illustrated by over 200 photos in this book, which start with the early pioneering efforts before and during the First World War and continue with the steady progress between the wars. In that period, the US Naval Aviation honed and refined the operation of increasingly sophisticated aircraft from the decks of its new carriers. In the Second World War, the US Navy was forced to rely on its aircraft carriers following the neutralisation of the battle fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. As it turned out, the carrier was now the major instrument of sea power, and over the next four years American industry built new carriers and aircraft at a rate the Axis powers could not match. For its part, the US Navy welded these new assets into formidable task forces, evolving and applying new tactics, and recruiting and training the sailors and airmen to the highest standards.

Entering service towards the end of the First World War, the Curtiss F-5L flying boat utilised a British-developed hull form and was the US Navys standard patrol aircraft during most of the 1920s.