NAS Pensacola: Naval Aviation Takes Flight

Through the centuries, Navies from many countries have recognized the ideal conditions of Pensacola’s harbor. In 1686, a Spanish officer called Pensacola Bay “the best I have ever seen.” The United States established a Navy Yard at Pensacola in 1825, just four years after Florida became a U.S. territory. The Navy Yard flourished for many generations enduring weather, war and epidemics. In 1911, the Pensacola Navy Yard was closed, a victim of a final yellow fever epidemic in 1905, a devastating hurricane in 1906 and the whims of powerful East Coast politicians eager to protect their own interests.

 

The new technology of “flying machines” would bring Navy personnel back to Pensacola. The Navy began experimenting with aviation as early as 1910 in various locations throughout the country. The search for a permanent home for Naval Aviation began in earnest by 1912. In Pensacola’s favor was a climate that provided year round flying weather and a deep water harbor for training and support ships. In December 1913, U.S. Marines reopened the Pensacola Navy Yard as an advance base.  In January 1914, a contingent of nine officers, twenty-three enlisted men, and nine aircraft arrived at Pensacola to establish a flying school. Many aviation “firsts” took place over Pensacola , including the first catapult launches, first night flights and the first controlled loop, a maneuver previously thought impossible. When the United States entered WWI, the First Aeronautic Detachment, comprised mostly of aviators from Pensacola, were the first American forces to arrive in Europe. In 1918, the aeronautical station was designated a Naval Air Station and graduated 50 aviators a week for service in Europe. WWI ended in November 1918, and many military members returned to civilian life. However, aviation training continued at N.A.S. Pensacola, providing Navy and Marine aviators for service in every armed conflict since 1918. The tradition continues today. Almost every Navy and Marine aviator passes through Pensacola during some part of their training. As aircraft have become more complex, Naval Flight Officers, along with many skilled enlisted members have joined the tide of aviation personnel training at N.A.S. Pensacola. From the first flights over Pensacola Bay in 1914 to the supersonic jets of today, N.A.S. Pensacola has earned the title “Cradle of Naval Aviation.”         

 

    

Michael Gannon, ed.., The New History of Florida,[Gainesville, Florida: University Presses of Florida, 1996], 117.

 

George F. Pearce, The U.S. Navy inPensacola: From Sailing Ships to Naval Aviation (1825-1930), [Pensacola, Florida: University Presses of Florida, 1980], 122, 132.

 

Commander Leo F. Murphy, Flying Machines Over Pensacola: An Early Aviation History

Lt. Whiting Making Catapult Shot

 

Photograph courtesy of Paul Musterton Collection, Emil Buehler Library NAS Pensacola