1ST OPERATIONAL SORTIE

Though the Navy and Marine Corps had been experimenting with the new-fangled flying machines of the early 20^th century, their operational role was still being defined.  Aerial reconnaissance seemed a logical task, as such technology in 1914 was limited to tethered balloons and dirigibles.  Then in Veracruz, Mexico, tempers flared over an affront to the American flag.  President Woodrow Wilson sent a naval response that included, on 20 April, an aviation detachment embarked aboard USS BIRMINGHAM (CL-2).  Three aircraft from the Navy’s aeronautical station at Pensacola were supported by three pilots and 12 enlisted under the command of LT John H. Towers.  The following day a second detachment of one pilot, three student pilots, and two aircraft under the command of LTJG Patrick N.L. Bellinger arrived on MISSISSIPPI (BB-23).  The airplanes were the Curtiss AB-3 and Curtiss AH-3.

The AB-3 was a flying boat, a biplane whose boat-shaped fuselage glided on and off the surface of the water.  The AB-3 was powered by a single 100-horsepower Curtiss OXX pusher engine attached to the upper wing.  An extra “canard” wing trailed the bi-wing structure, with a cut-out over the second seat.  Airplane markings were not yet developed, and the AB-3 hung two cloth American flags from the outer struts between the wings.  In contrast, the AH-3 was a “hydroaeroplane,” a standard fuselage biplane with floats in the place of landing gear.

By 24 April, BIRMINGHAM was positioned off Tampico, and MISSISSIPPI stood off Veracruz.  Seven hundred and eighty-seven sailors and Marines had landed three days earlier at Veracruz to protect Americans within the city.  Shots had been fired.  Out in the harbor, MISSISSIPPI’s skipper worried that mines might have been laid in the harbor as well.  He turned to his “air wing” this day, ordering that an AB-3 flying boat hoisted over the side.  LTJG Bellinger crawled aboard and took off in the direction of the city.  He scouted Veracruz and made passes over the harbor searching for mines.  It was our Navy’s first use of an aircraft in support of combat operations.

Though overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I in Europe, several other US Naval aviation “firsts” are recorded from this deployment off Veracruz.  On 28 April, Bellinger and ENS W.D. LaMont made the first photo-reconnaissance flight.  On 2 May, Bellinger and LaMont again flew on the first mission in support of ground troops, near Tejar, Mexico.  And four days after that, the AH-3 of Bellinger and LTJG Richard C. Saufley was hit by rifle fire from the ground–the first combat damage sustained by a Navy aircraft.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  30 APR 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare).  United States Naval Aviation 1910-1980.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1981, p. 10.

Goodspeed, M. Hill.  U.S. Navy:  A Complete History. Washington, DC: Naval Historical Foundation, 2003, p. 319.

Larkins, William T.  U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft 1914-1959.  Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub. Ltd., 1995, p. 1.

“Pictorial History of Naval Aviation.”  AT: www.history.navy.mil/download/pict-m2.pdf, retrieved 20 May 2006.

Taylor, Michael J.H.  Jane’s American Fighting Aircraft of the 20^th Century.  New York, NY: Mallard Press, 1991, p. 98.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History:  An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3^rd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, p. 116, 117.

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                                     CAPT HOMER L. SMITH, USN

The weather could have been better!  The A4D Skyhawks of the VA-212 “Rampant Raiders” launched from USS BON HOMME RICHARD (CVA-31) early this morning.  CDR Homer Leroy Smith, the squadron CO, led from the front as he rolled his Skyhawk toward the target.  In the crosshairs for this second day of strikes was the geothermal power plant at Bac Giang.  The site was familiar to Smith.  Not a year before his squadron had hit a POL facility (petroleum, oil and lubricants) in the same ancient North Vietnamese city.  Indeed, Smith received the Silver Star for this earlier raid.  Neither did the prowess of his “Raiders” go unnoticed.  His was the first squadron chosen to deploy the new AGM-62 “Walleye” television-guided bomb.

Conditions weren’t any different over the target.  Sandwiched into a thin layer of clear air between the low clouds and the ground, Smith jinked his warplane violently against a rising wave of anti-aircraft fire.  Bullets peppered his fuselage and smoke poured from his exhaust.  His Skyhawk was breaking up!  Smith had no choice–he punched out.  The squadron completed their attack, significantly damaging the power plant.  Smith was last seen on the ground, hands held high, surrounded by enemy soldiers.

Nothing more was heard from CDR Smith for five years.  Then in 1972 a propaganda film released by North Vietnam showed Smith’s flight helmet.  Late that year the last US troops “in country” were withdrawn, and in February 1973, 591 POWs held by the North Vietnamese were returned.  Smith was not among them.  It was learned from another POW that the Commander had died in captivity.  Downed American airmen were often subjected to brutal beatings and torture at the hands of those by whom they were first captured.  For CDR Smith this abuse was apparently violent.  Based on the available information, the Navy established the date of his death as 21 May 1967, the day after his capture.  His remains were returned without explanation on 15 March 1974.

Smith was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions this day.  He was interred on 20 May 1974 with full military honors at the Naval Academy cemetery–the institution from which he had graduated in 1949.  His career included tours at NAS Akron, NAS Lemoore, and as an instructor at the Naval Academy and in the ROTC program at the University of Southern California.  At the time he was shot down he was on his second combat tour in Vietnam, flying his 200^th mission.  He has been honored since by his native West Virginia with the naming of the “U.S. Navy CAPT Homer Leroy Smith Memorial Bridge” which carries WV State Route 18 over the Middle Island Creek in Tyler County.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  27 MAY 22

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

“Bridge Dedication–CAPT Homer L. Smith USN VN KIA–Middlebourne WV–18 Aug 18.”  WV Patriot Guard website.  AT:  https://wvpatriotguard.org/bridge-dedication-capt-homer-l-smith-usn-vn-kia-middlebourne-wv-18-aug-18/, retrieved 30 July 2019.

“Homer L. Smith, CAPT, USN.”  Naval Academy Memorial Hall website.  AT: https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/homer_l._smith,_capt,_usn, retrieved 28 July 2019.

Stevens, Paul Drew.  The Navy Cross Vietnam:  Citations of Awards to Men of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps 1964-1973.  Forest Ranch, CA: Sharp and Dunnigan, 1987, p. 303.

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