1940-Contin ued

Heap made an emergency flight transferring a stricken

seaman from Noa in Harbor of Refuge, Del., to the

Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

27 May The Secretary of the Navy directed that six

destroyers of the DD 445-class be equipped with cata-

pult, plane, and plane handling equipment. DDs 476-

481, Pringle, Stanly, Hutchins, Stevens, Halford, and

Leutze, were selected subsequently. Shortcomings in

the plane hoisting gear led to removal of the aviation

equipment from the first three ships prior to their join-

ing the fleet in early 1943. In October 1943, after limit-

ed aircraft operations by Stevens and Halford, aviation

equipment was ordered removed from them and plans

for its installation on Leutze were canceled.

14 June The Naval Expansion Act included autho-

rization for an increase in aircraft carrier tonnage of

79,500 tons over the limits set 17 May 1938, and a

revision of authorized aircraft strength to 4,500 useful

airplanes.

15 June Congress revised its previous action and set

the aircraft ceiling at 10,000 useful airplanes, including

850 for the Naval Reserve, and not more than 48 use-

ful airships.

25 June The Aeronautical Engineering Duty Only

(AEDO) designation was abolished and all men

appointed to that special duty were designated for

Engineering Duty Only (EDO).

25 June The Chief of Naval Operations promulgated

plans for an expanded flight training program calling

for the assignment of 150 students per month begin-

ning 1 July, and a regular increase to an entry rate of

300 per month within a year.

27 June The president established a National

Defense Research Committee to correlate and support

scientific research on the mechanisms and devices of

war. Among its members were officers of the War and

Navy Departments appointed by the respective

Secretaries. Although research on the problems of

flight was specifically excluded from its functions, this

organization made substantial contributions in various

fields of importance to Naval Aviation, including air-

borne radar.

14 July The initial meeting of what became the

National Defense Research Committee's Division 14, or

Radar Division, was attended by Alfred 1. Loomis,

Ralph Bowen, E. 1. Bowles and Hugh H. Willis. In this

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

103

and subsequent meetings with other scientists, this

group defined its mission as "to obtain the most effec-

tive military application of microwaves in minimum

time." In carrying out this mission, Division 14 devel-

oped airborne radar used in the Navy for aircraft inter-

ception, airborne early warning and other more spe-

cialized applications.

19 July Authorization for a further expansion of the

Navy provided an increase of 200,000 tons in the air-

craft carrier limits set the previous month, and a new

aircraft ceiling of 15,000 useful planes. The act also

allowed further increases in aircraft strength on presi-

dential approval.

5 August The Chief Of Naval Operations estab-

lished general ground rules for exchange of scientific

and technical information with a British mission, gen-

erally known as the Tizard Mission after its senior

member Sir Henry Tizard. In general, free exchange of

information was expected on matters concerning avia-

tion, including the field later called radar. The degree

of exchange actually achieved surpassed expectations

so that the coming of the Tizard Mission served as a

benchmark in the interchange of scientific and techni-

cal information regarding World War II weaponry.

12 August The Bureau of Ordnance requested

informally that the National Defense Research

Committee sponsor development, on a priority basis,

of proximity fuzes with particular emphasis on anti-air-

craft use. Such fuzes had been under consideration for

some time and the decision to undertake development

followed receipt from the Tizard Mission of reports of

British progress.

17 August Section T (so called for its Chairman, Dr.

Merle A. Tuve) of Division A, National Defense

Research Committee, was established to examine the

feasibility of various approaches to developing a prox-

imity fuze. Eight days later, a contract was issued to

the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie

Institution of Washington, for the research that culmi-

nated in the radio VT fuze for anti-aircraft guns and

both radio and photoelectric VT fuzes for bombs and

rockets.

29 August The exchange with the British Tizard

Mission of scientific and technical information con-

cerning radar began at a conference attended by Sir

Henry Tizard, two of his associates, and representa-

tives of the U.S. Army and Navy including Lieutenant

John A. Moreno of the Bureau of Aeronautics. The ini-

tial conference dealt primarily with the British tech-

niques for detecting German bombers but touched