Although not an aviator, William A. Moffett was the man chosen to form the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics in 1921. Moffett had served over two decades as a surface sailor, won the Medal of Honor for action at Veracruz in 1914, and commanded the battleship Mississippi from 1918 to 1920. Never theless, despite his lack of prior experience in aviation, he was one of the first highranking naval officers to appreciate the importance of the airplane and the impact it would have on the fleet. Therefore he was eager to accept the challenge of forming an aeronautical bureau within the Navy. He was extremely successful in this endeavor. Aviation was a politically and militarily contentious issue throughout the interwar period, and it took all of Moffett's diplomacy, tact, tenacity, and savvy to see his infant air arm through its formative years. He did, however, have an unfortunate affection for airships, a technological dead end that squandered millions of dollars. Ironically, in April 1933 he jumped on board the airship Akron for a flight from Lakehurst to Newport. The ship went down in a severe storm off the coast of New Jersey, killing Moffett and most of the crew.
The life of this "essential man" is told by William F. Trimble in Admiral William A. Moffett: Architect of Naval Aviation (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994). This is an excellent book that gives a clear and sympathetic portrait of Moffett, arguing that his firm but enlightened leadership was essential in the successful development of naval aviation. There were many younger, more aggressive, and more knowledgeable naval aviators about, but Moffett's strong background as a surface officer gave him a credibility and trust with his superiors the others could not match. Moffett did not challenge his superiors as did Billy Mitchell in the Army, and he did not demand a separate service. Instead, he preached the necessity of keeping aviation as an integral part of the fleet. He told his young aviators to remember always that they were naval officers first and airmen second. This deft handling of the loyalty issue was crucial, and Trimble implies it saved the air arm from amputation. At the same time, the author argues that the tactics of Mitchell and his propaganda campaign provided Moffett the lever he needed to energize the naval hierarchy to form the aeronautical bureau. This is a balanced account, and Trimble notes that Moffett was often dictatorial and stubborn and tended to push projects like large airships and small aircraft carriers long after it was clear they were bad ideas. Nonetheless, the admiral was indeed the right man at the right time. Without his vision and political acumen, naval aviation would have evolved far differently.
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