82

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1931-Continued

powder catapults on hangar decks. The development was

expanded to include the use of compressed air, and by

the end of 1932 the Naval Aircraft Factory had successful-

ly launched an 02U-3 landplane with this latter gear.

7 October In a bombing demonstration conducted

from an altitude of 5,000 feet against the anchored tar-

get ship Pittsburgh (Armored Cruiser No.4), 50 per-

cent hits were obtained with the newly developed

Norden Mark XV bombsight as compared to slightly

over 20 percent hits with the earlier Mark XI model.

7 October Evaluation of the experimental K Class

airship, the K-l, was begun at NAS Lakehurst, N.J. It

featured an enclosed all-metal car and a 320,000 cubic-

foot envelope, which made it the largest non-rigid air-

ship designed especially for the Navy until that time.

27 October The rigid airship Akron (ZRS-4), having

made its first trial flight on 23 September 1931 at

Akron, Ohio, was commissioned at NAS Lakehurst,

N.J., with Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl

as Commanding Officer.

2 November Marine Scouting Squadrons VS-I4M

and -15M embarked on Saratoga and Lexington,

respectively, to operate as an integral part of Aircraft,

Battle Force. These squadrons, first of the Marine air

units assigned to carriers, were carrier-based until late

1934; and from then until 1941, other Marine

squadrons maintained some carrier proficiency

through periodic operations afloat.

3 November The rigid dirigible Akron (ZRS-4) made

a lO-hour flight out of Lakehurst, N.J., carrying aloft

207 persons, a new record for the largest number of

individuals carried into the air by a single craft.

9 December Langley completed nine days of opera-

tions off the New England coast in which the cold

weather operating capabilities of carrier deck gear and

carrier aircraft, and the effectiveness of protective

flight clothing were given a practical test.

1932

9 January The Secretary of the Navy informed the

Secretary of War of work being conducted at the Naval

Research Laboratory in detecting ships and aircraft by

radio and suggested that since one obvious applica-

tion of the method was in air warning systems for

large areas, the Army might be interested in undertak-

ing further work.

24 March The Army Air Corps, in response to

enthusiastic reports from its observers who had wit-

nessed the performance of the Mk XV Norden bomb-

sight in trials against Pittsburgh (Armored Cruiser No.

4) the previous October, requested the Navy to pro-

vide it with 25 Mk XV sights. This was the Army's first

commitment for the Navy-developed sight that was to

become essential to high altitude precision bombing in

World War II.

2 April Torpedo Squadron SA (ex-VT-20) sailed from

the Philippines aboard Jason (AC 12). When VS-8A, the

only squadron remaining in the area, was disestablished