John Henry Towers
John Henry Towers | |
---|---|
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Awards | Navy Cross (2) Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit NC-4 Medal |
Relations | Herbert D. Riley (son-in-law) |
Other work | President, Pacific War Memorial President, Flight Safety Council |
John Henry Towers
Early life and career
John H. Towers was born on 30 January 1885 at
Among his classmates were many future admirals including
He graduated with
Towers was transferred to
Under the tutelage of aviation pioneers Curtiss and Ellyson, Towers qualified as a pilot with the Aero Club of America on 13 September 1911, flying the Navy's first airplane, a Curtiss A-1 seaplane.[2] In Sept 1911 Towers and Ellyson created the first official Naval Air Station and flying aviation unit at Greenbury Point, Md across the Severn River from the Naval Academy under orders from Captain Washington Irving Chambers, the first Navy officer assigned to development of the nascent U.S. Naval aviation program.[4]
In October 1911, Towers achieved a distance record, flying an A-1 from Annapolis, Maryland, to Old Point Comfort, Virginia, a distance of 112 miles in 122 minutes. He set several speed and altitude records at the time.
Due to the winter weather conditions at Greenbury Point they crated the airplanes and Towers et al. traveled to
After that winter in San Diego they went back to Greenbury Point. On October 6, 1912, he achieved an American endurance record by rigging extra gasoline tanks to a Curtiss A-2 seaplane, allowing him to remain aloft for 6 hours, ten minutes, 35 seconds. From October to December 1912, Towers conducted tests to spot submerged submarines from the air over the Chesapeake Bay. This later was valuable in leading to the design of the NC boats and the First Crossing of the Atlantic in 1919. He furthered those tests into 1913 during fleet operations near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Additionally, he investigated the potential for Navy aerial reconnaissance, bombing, photography, and communications.[3]
On 8 May 1913, Lt. Towers flew a long-distance flight of 169 miles in a Curtiss flying boat from the
On 20 June 1913, Towers was nearly killed in an aviation mishap over the
On 20 January 1914, after appealing to the higher-ups to move the aviation unit to warmer climes Lieutenant Towers led 9 officers and 23 enlisted men, with seven aircraft, portable hangars and other gear from the aviation unit at Annapolis (Greenbury Point) to Pensacola, Florida to set up the naval aviation training unit. On April 20, 1914, Towers led the first naval aviation unit called into action with the Fleet. He and two other pilots, 12 enlisted men and three aircraft sailed from Pensacola aboard the cruiser Birmingham in response to the Tampico Affair.[7]
In January 1915, the navy decided to officially designate its flyers. At that time, Towers was officially designated as Naval Aviator No. 3, with an effective date of 1914.[8] Lieutenant Commander Towers, while assigned to the aviation desk under CNO, is credited with the development of the Naval Aviators badge, which were designed and ordered in 1917.[9] On January 19, 1918, distribution of the first gold Naval Aviator wings began, and it is likely that Towers, as Senior Naval Aviator in Washington at the time, was an early, if not the earliest, recipient.[9]
World War I
In August 1914, shortly after the war began, Towers was ordered to London as assistant
In May 1917, Lieutenant Commander Towers was ordered to the Bureau of Navigation as Supervisor of the
Interwar years, 1919–1939
During the interwar years, Towers was the leading advocate of Naval Aviation (and especially carrier aviation) when there was virtually no other support within or outside of the navy. He was involved in a number of pioneering developments in Naval Aviation, including the first transatlantic crossing by aircraft; serving as commander of the first U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Langley; and holding important positions (including bureau chief) within the Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer), the organizational structure established for naval aviation in 1921.
Transatlantic crossing: Flight of NC-4, 1919
In 1919, then-Commander Towers proposed, planned and led the first
On 16 May they left for the longest leg of their journey, to the
Sea and shore assignments, 1920s and 1930s
Between the autumn of 1919 and the late winter of 1922 and 1923, Towers served at sea—as the executive officer of
Returning to the United States in the autumn of 1925, he was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics and served as a member of the court of inquiry which investigated the loss of dirigible USS Shenandoah.
Towers next commanded USS Langley, the Navy's first aircraft carrier, from January 1927 to August 1928. He received a commendation for "coolness and courage in the face of danger" when a gasoline line caught fire and burned on board the carrier in December 1927. Towers personally led the vigorous and successful effort to suppress the flames kindled by the explosion and thus averted a catastrophe.
After shore duty in the Bureau of Aeronautics, Towers successively served as head of the plans division and later, as assistant bureau chief. Towers joined the staff of the Commander, Aircraft, Battle Force, under Rear Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, in June 1931. He was among the staff which planned a successful "attack" on Pearl Harbor during the Joint Army-Navy Exercise No. 4 in the Hawaiian Islands in February 1932—an operation which was to be duplicated on a larger scale by the Japanese in December 1941.
Between June 1933 and June 1939, Towers filled a variety of billets ashore and afloat: he completed the senior course at the Naval War College in 1934; commanded the Naval Air Station at San Diego; again served on the staff of ComAirBatFor; commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga; and became Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. On 1 June 1939, he was named chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics with the accompanying rank of rear admiral.
World War II
As Aeronautics Bureau chief, Towers organized the Navy's aircraft procurement plans while war clouds gathered over the Far East and in the Atlantic. Under his leadership, the air arm of the Navy grew from 2,000 planes in 1939 to 39,000 in 1942. He also instituted a rigorous pilot-training program and established a trained group of reserve officers for ground support duties. During Towers' tenure, the number of men assigned to naval aviation activities reached a high point of some three quarters of a million.
World War II operational commands
Promoted to
Towers was subsequently promoted to the dual position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (DCINCPOA) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet (DCINCPAC). In this capacity, he served as Admiral
In August 1945, Towers was given command of the Second Fast Carrier Task Force and Task Force 38, Pacific Fleet. He held this position in the closing days of the war.
Post-war service
On 7 November 1945, he broke his flag aboard the battleship
In 1946, President Truman signed the first Outline Command Plan (now known as the Unified Command Plan) that called for the establishment of several joint or unified commands. On 1 January 1947, the new
After chairing the Navy's General Board from March to December 1947, Towers retired on 1 December 1947.
Retirement
After retirement, Towers served as president of the
Honors and awards
In 1961, Towers was posthumously designated the second recipient of the
-
Statue of Towers in Rome, Georgia byBob Rasmussen
-
Plaque of Towers at the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame
The decorations and medals he earned during his career include the following:
Naval Aviator Badge | |||||||||||||
1st row |
Navy Cross with one 5/16 inch star | Navy Distinguished Service Medal | Legion of Merit | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2nd row |
NC-4 Medal | Cuban Pacification Medal | Mexican Service Medal | ||||||||||
3rd row |
World War I Victory Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal | ||||||||||
4th row |
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
with two 3/16 inch service stars |
World War II Victory Medal
|
Navy Occupation Medal
| ||||||||||
5th row |
Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) |
Commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword (Portugal )
|
Namesakes
USS Towers (DDG-9), a guided missile destroyer that saw action in the Vietnam War, was named in his honor. A crater on the moon was named in his honor by the Apollo 17 mission.[18] Towers Field at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, is named for him, as is the air field at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport, Rome, Georgia.[19] A pool located on the United States Pacific Fleet command section of Pearl Harbor is named after him.
See also
- Theodore G. Ellyson - Naval Aviator No. 1
- Eugene Burton Ely - First aviator to successfully takeoff and land from a ship
- William A. Moffett - First commander of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics & father of U.S. Naval aviation
- Albert Cushing Read - Commander of the first transatlantic flight (1919)
- John Rodgers - Naval Aviator No. 2, commander of first flight to Hawaii (1925)
References
- ^ a b "Lucky Bag - USNA Class of 1906". United States Naval Academy. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
- ^ a b Reynolds, Clark G. (1986). "Young Jack Towers". Proceedings. Supplement (April). United States Naval Institute: 2–8.
- ^ Reynolds, Clark (1991) Admiral John H. Towers The Struggle for Naval Air Supremacy
- ^ "Towers, John Henry". www.history.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- ^ "Lieut. Towers Makes Long Flying Boat Run". Archived from the original on 1999-10-07.
- ^ "Naval Aviation History Office". Archived from the original on 2000-04-08.
- ^ "The History of Naval Aviator and Naval Aviation Pilot Designations and Numbers, The Training of Naval Aviators and the Number Trained (Designated)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2005-09-20. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ a b "Developing the Flying Bomb" (PDF). www.history.navy.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 1998. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ Awarding of Medals in the Naval Service. U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Naval Affairs. 1920. p. 57. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ "Evolution of aircraft carriers". Archived from the original on 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ Now de-commissioned and part of Gateway National Recreation Area
- ^ Aviation History website
- ^ "Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas" [Portuguese Honorary Orders]. Presidency of the Portuguese Republic (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-04-26.
- ^ Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the crew of the first transatlantic flight Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine Towers was awarded along with the flight crew of NC-4
- ^ "Decorations, Navy Distinguished Service Medal - All Hands, The Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin; January 1946; page 57" (PDF). navy.mil. United States Navy Websites. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ "Admiral John H. Towers". Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
- ^ Isakson, Johnny (May 20, 2009). "Congressional Record, Volume 155 Issue 78 (Wednesday, May 20, 2009)". Congressional Record. 155 (78). Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "Rome native Towers featured in new book". Rome News-Tribune. Rome, Georgia. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- Reynolds, Clark G. Admiral John H. Towers: The Struggle for Naval Air Supremacy. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991.
External links
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Biographical information on Admiral Towers and ship history for USS Towers (DDG-9) from the Naval Historical Center
- John H. Towers Papers (Library of Congress)
- Text of Georgia Senate Resolution SR-942, honoring Admiral Towers The text includes a brief recital of Towers' Georgia roots and naval accomplishments. The resolution was to approve the placing of a portrait of Towers in the Georgia State Capitol.