Q2. What was one reason why the U.S. Navy wasdeployed?Q3. Describe the role of Navy destroyers.Q4. Describe the role of the air forces.Q5. What was the role of Navy women?THE NAVY FROM 1920 TO 1950Learning Objective: When you finish this chapter, youwill be able to—Recognize the roles and responsibilities of theNavy from 1920 through 1950 to include WorldWar II and the post-war years.The world was changing rapidly from the end ofWWI to 1950. During the 1920s, the world economyboomed, then fell. In the 1930s, there was the “GreatDepression.” In 1939, World War II began. In thissection, you will learn about some of the developmentsmade by the U.S. Navy.1920 TO 1940Between 1920 and 1940, the U.S. Navy wasdeveloping its aviation arm to include aircraft carriersand airships and airplanes. Also, it was building up itsdestroyer strength.AviationGreat strides in aviation had been made duringWorld War I, and the end of the war did not slow the paceof progress. On May 8, 1919, three Navy Curtiss (NC)flying boats taxied into the bay of Far Rockaway, NewYork, and took off for Europe. Plagued by mechanicaldifficulties, two NCs failed to make it. The NC-4,piloted by Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read,became the first airplane to fly the Atlantic. LCDRRead’s message from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Presidentread, “We are safely across the pond. The job isfinished.” The NC-4 is now located at the NationalMuseum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.With transoceanic aircraft a reality, the Navycontinued to research the use of rigid airships in its airarm. In 1923, Shenandoah was launched. During asevere squall in 1925, the Shenandoah broke in half andkilled 14 men. At that time, some authorities questionedthe safety of the airship since it was fueled with highlyflammable hydrogen. In spite of some opposition, theNavy continued to test rigid airships throughout the nextdecade. In 1931, USS Akron was launched. The Akroncrashed in 1933 during a thunderstorm, killing the entirecrew.In November 1929 a Ford trimotor aircraft, namedthe Floyd Bennett, carried Commander Richard E. Byrdand his crew on the first flight over the South Pole.Commander Byrd thereby became the first man to flyover both poles.In 1933, Macon was commissioned. Two years laterthe Macon also crashed into the sea. The Navy thenabandoned research and construction of rigid airships.Aircraft CarriersIn 1934, the USS Ranger, the first carrier designedfrom the keel up, joined the fleet. Also in the 1930s andprewar 1940s, the large aircraft carriers USSEnterprise, USS Wasp, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktownwere commissioned.Those carriers played an important role in theprewar years. They were used in exercises to test thepossibility of launching air attacks from their decks.During fleet maneuvers, naval aviators receivedexcellent training in mock attacks on Pearl Harbor.Flying predawn missions from carriers, flyerstheoretically destroyed the U.S. Fleet and its aircraftthere. Fleet commanders were impressed by theflexibility of the air arm, but no one else seemed to paymuch attention to the exercises.5-18Student Notes:
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