Richard C. Saufley
Richard Caswell Saufley | |
|---|---|
Lieutenant, junior grade | |
| Battles/wars | 1914 Veracruz campaign |
Saufley in the cockpit of an unidentified aircraft.
Richard Caswell Saufley (1 September 1884 – 9 June 1916), was a pioneer of naval aviation in the United States Navy.
Career
Saufley was born on 1 September 1884 at
Lieutenant, junior grade
, and designated Naval Aviator No. 14.
During the Veracruz campaign of 1914 in Mexico, Saufley was attached to the battleship USS Mississippi and the armored cruiser USS North Carolina.
In 1915 and 1916, Saufley's assignments were concerned with the technological development of naval aviation. Concentrating on "hydro-aeroplane" (
Santa Rosa Island on a flight out of the Naval Aeronautic Station at Pensacola, Florida on 9 June 1916. His Curtiss Model E hydroplane, AH-8, went down at the 8-hour-51-minute mark of the flight.[1] The Aeronautic Station's commandant, Commander Henry C. Mustin
, later faced accusations that his "wrong flying instruction methods" had caused the deaths of Saufley and another aviator, Lieutenant, junior grade, James V. Rockwell.
Saufley is buried at Stanford Cemetery in Stanford, Kentucky.
Commemoration
Naval Air Station Pensacola's Saufley Field and the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Saufley (DD-465) have been named in Saufley's honor.
References
- ISBN 978-0-8160-1854-3.
External links
- Richard C. Saufley at Find a Grave
- history.navy.mil: USS Saufley
- The Filson Historical Quarterly biography
See also
- List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (pre-1925)