ENS Albert Sturtevant
15 FEBRUARY 1918
ENS ALBERT STURTEVANT
In the early months of 1917 the United States was still officially neutral in the three-year-old World War that gripped most of Europe. But attacks by German U-boats on American merchant ships were continuing. All over our nation, patriotic young Americans signed up for military service in the war whose inevitability could be foretold. Albert D. Sturtevant proved no exception when he and 28 of his Philips Academy alumni enlisted as the 1st Yale Unit. Sturtevant was sent to the Naval Aeronautical School in Pensacola, and while there the US entered WWI on April 6th. Three weeks later, on 1 May 1917, Sturtevant earned his wings as a naval aviator.
ENS Sturtevant reported to Felixstowe, England, in October. American pilots were augmenting British squadrons flying escort across the North Sea for Holland-bound supply ships. The Ensign flew the H-12 flying boat, one of our early operational seaplanes. The H-12 was a Glenn Curtiss design, a large, twin-engine biplane with a boat-shaped hull suspended from the lower wing. The hull projected forward as an open cockpit in which the pilot, navigator, and forward gunner sat. A second open seat behind the wing accommodated the rear gunner. Thirty caliber Lewis machine guns, both on Scarff swivel rings, protected the aircraft as she scouted for U-boats ahead of merchant ships. By 1918, Felixstowe’s pilots were flying the more powerful “B” version of the H-12, nicknamed the “Large America.”
On this day, Sturtevant and a second H-12 took off on an escort mission. His three enlisted gunners and spotters were C.C. Purdy, A.H. Stephenson, and S.J. Hollidge. But today’s mission proved different than all the others to date. Today the H-12s were jumped by five Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 mono-wing floatplane fighters. Sturtevant’s wingman recognized the unfavorable odds and dove to escape, allowing the nimble fighters to concentrate on Sturtevant’s lumbering H-12. The Lewis guns sprang to life; .30 caliber bullets ripped the air. One, then a second attacking enemy spun away trailing smoke. Though outgunned, the H-12 initially held her own. But as the running fight approached the Belgian coast, a flight of German land-based fighters joined the attack. Now outnumbered 16:1, enemy bullets began to take their toll. When last seen by American eyes, Sturtevant’s crippled H-12 was spiraling toward the North Sea. There were no survivors.
For his service on behalf of his nation, Sturtevant was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The WWII Clemson-class destroyer STURTEVANT (DD-240) and the Edsall-class destroyer escort of the same name, DE-239, both remember this naval aviation hero.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 22 FEB 24
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
“Aircraft of the AEF, Curtiss H-12 Flying Boat.” AT: www.worldwar1.com/dbc/curth12.htm, 19 January 2007.
“Albert D. Sturtevant.” AT: www.sturtevant.org.uk/aviator1.html, 19 January 2007.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, pp. 662.
Sterner, Doug. “Full Text Citations for Award of the Navy Cross to Members of the U.S. Navy, World War I.” AT: http:// www.homeofheros.com/valor/1_citations/01_wwi-nc/ nc_02_ww1_navy-avn.html, 22 January 2007.
Taylor, Michael J.H. Jane’s American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century. New York, NY: Mallard Press, 1991, p. 104.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The US supplied a series of biplane flying boats to the British during the war. The initial version, the Curtiss H-4, was nicknamed the “America” boat. With the advent of the improved H-12, the British took to calling the H-4 the “Small America” and the H-12 “Large America,” in deference to the latter’s 96-foot wingspan (roughly 2/3 the width of a football field). The British further modified the H-4 and the H-12, producing their own versions, the F.1 and F.2A, respectively, both nicknamed “Felixstowe.”
During WWI the Navy Cross was our third highest award behind the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Congressional action in 1942 reversed the order of precedence of the Navy Cross and Distinguished Service Medal to bring Navy awards in line with the Army’s. Sturtevant is one of 120 US Naval Aviators to be awarded the Navy Cross in WWI. The full citation for Sturtevant’s award reads:
“The Navy Cross is awarded to Ensign Albert D. Sturtevant, U.S. Navy, for distinguished and heroic service as an aviator attached to the Royal Air Force station at Felixstowe, England, making a great many offensive patrol flights over the North Sea and was shot down when engaged gallantly in combat with a number of enemy planes.”
