William A. Moffett

William Adger Moffett (1869 – 4 April 1933) was an American admiral notable as the architect of naval aviation in the United States Navy.

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Biography

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1890. He was on the USS Charleston for the Battle of Manila Bay.

He received the Medal of Honor for his captaincy of the USS Chester in a daring and dangerous night landing in 1914 at Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico. (See also U.S. Occupation of Veracruz, Mexico, 1914).

In World War I, he was commander of the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago, and there established an aviator training program. While commanding the battleship Mississippi (1918–1921) he supported the creation of a scout plane unit on the ship.

Although not himself a flyer, Moffett became known as the "Air Admiral" for his leadership of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics from its creation in 1921. In this role, he oversaw the development of tactics for naval aircraft, the introduction of the aircraft carrier, and relations with the civilian aircraft industry. By adroit use of public relations, he maintained support for naval aviation against Billy Mitchell, who favored putting all military aircraft into a separate air force.

Moffett was also an advocate of airships; he lost his life on the Akron when the airship went down off the coast of New Jersey in 1933. The naval air station in Sunnyvale, California that he helped establish was soon after named Moffett Field in his memory.

He is buried in Arlington Cemetery, alongside his wife Jeanette Whitton Moffett . Their son William A. Moffett, Jr. was also a Navy admiral.

External links

Moffett bio at Arlington Cemetery

References

Edward Arpee, From Frigates to Flat-tops: The story of the life and achievements of Rear Admiral William Adger Moffett, U.S.N. "The Father of Naval Aviation" October 31, 1869-April 4, 1933. (Published and distributed by the author, 1953).
William F. Trimble , Admiral William A. Moffett: Architect of Naval Aviation (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press , 1994)