History of a Naval Fighter
History of Naval Fighter Community The United States Navy’s official interest in airplanes began as early as 1898. ... After demonstrations and vigorous testing and planning, in 1909, naval officers including a bureau chief were urging the purchase of aircraft. ... Early in 1911 the first naval officer reported for flight training. ... In 1914, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels announced that the point had been reached “Where aircraft must form a large part of our naval forces for offensive and defensive operations. ... naval aircraft are amongst the best in the world. ... Thirty years after the Navy had acquired its first airplane, and only 19 years after it had ever acquired its first aircraft carrier, Naval Aviation faced the supreme test of war. ... If it had not yet been already shown in combat before the United States entered the war, all doubts to the power of naval air power were removed by the infamous, yet skillfully executed attack on Pearl Harbor, when Japanese aircraft in one swift stroke eliminated a major portion of the Navy’s surface power. In World War II, for the first time in history, naval engagements were fought entirely in the air without opposing surface forces sighting each other. ... Naval aviation began its seventh decade with the United States heavily embroiled in the Vietnam War; 1980 ended with carriers Eisenhower and Ranger deployed in the Indian Ocean. ... Aircraft of the Seventh Fleet performed the most extensive aerial mining operation in history, blockading the enemys main avenues of supply. ... Two years later, Naval aviation was called upon to assist in the evacuation of refugees fleeing the North Vietnamese takeover of South Vietnam. In 1979, Naval air power helped rescue thousands of Indochina’s who took to the high seas in poor vessels to escape mounting tyranny in their homelands. ... At the end of the decade, a new fighter/attack aircraft, the F/A-18 Hornet, was undergoing flight trials.