John Henry Towers

Early Naval Aviators: Towers is seated second from left. Glenn Curtiss at controls. Theodore Ellyson at the nose wheel of the plane.

Under the tutelage of aviation pioneers Curtiss and Ellyson, Towers qualified as a pilot with the Aero Club of America on 13 September 1911, flying the Navy's first airplane, a Curtiss A-1 seaplane.[2] In Sept 1911 Towers and Ellyson created the first official Naval Air Station and flying aviation unit at Greenbury Point, Md across the Severn River from the Naval Academy under orders from Captain Washington Irving Chambers, the first Navy officer assigned to development of the nascent U.S. Naval aviation program.[4]

In October 1911, Towers achieved a distance record, flying an A-1 from Annapolis, Maryland, to Old Point Comfort, Virginia, a distance of 112 miles in 122 minutes. He set several speed and altitude records at the time.

Due to the winter weather conditions at Greenbury Point they crated the airplanes and Towers et al. traveled to North Island in San Diego, California where, in conjunction with the Curtiss Flying School, he took part in developing and improving naval aircraft types[5]

After that winter in San Diego they went back to Greenbury Point. On October 6, 1912, he achieved an American endurance record by rigging extra gasoline tanks to a Curtiss A-2 seaplane, allowing him to remain aloft for 6 hours, ten minutes, 35 seconds. From October to December 1912, Towers conducted tests to spot submerged submarines from the air over the Chesapeake Bay. This later was valuable in leading to the design of the NC boats and the First Crossing of the Atlantic in 1919. He furthered those tests into 1913 during fleet operations near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Additionally, he investigated the potential for Navy aerial reconnaissance, bombing, photography, and communications.[3]

On 8 May 1913, Lt. Towers flew a long-distance flight of 169 miles in a Curtiss flying boat from the Washington Navy Yard down the Potomac River and then up the Chesapeake Bay to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. The flight took three hours and five minutes. Ensign Godfrey Chevalier was his passenger.[6]

On 20 June 1913, Towers was nearly killed in an aviation mishap over the Chesapeake Bay. While he was flying as a passenger in a Wright seaplane, his plane was caught in a sudden downdraft and plummeted earthward. The pilot, Ensign W.D. Billingsley, was thrown from the aircraft and killed (becoming the first naval aviation fatality). Towers was wrenched from his seat but managed to catch a wing strut and stay with the plane until it crashed into the Chesapeake. Interviewed by Glenn Curtiss soon thereafter, Towers recounted the circumstances of the tragedy; his report and resultant recommendations eventually led to the design and adoption of safety belts and harnesses for pilots and their passengers.

On 20 January 1914, after appealing to the higher-ups to move the aviation unit to warmer climes Lieutenant Towers led 9 officers and 23 enlisted men, with seven aircraft, portable hangars and other gear from the aviation unit at Annapolis (Greenbury Point) to Pensacola, Florida to set up the naval aviation training unit. On April 20, 1914, Towers led the first naval aviation unit called into action with the Fleet. He and two other pilots, 12 enlisted men and three aircraft sailed from Pensacola aboard the cruiser Birmingham in response to the Tampico Affair.[7]

In January 1915, the navy decided to officially designate its flyers. At that time, Towers was officially designated as Naval Aviator No. 3, with an effective date of 1914.[8] Lieutenant Commander Towers, while assigned to the aviation desk under CNO, is credited with the development of the Naval Aviators badge, which were designed and ordered in 1917.[9] On January 19, 1918, distribution of the first gold Naval Aviator wings began, and it is likely that Towers, as Senior Naval Aviator in Washington at the time, was an early, if not the earliest, recipient.[9]

The NC-3, commanded by Towers, limps into the Azores after an attempt to cross the Atlantic

Officers of the Transatlantic Flight, Towers with walking cane, beside him are future admirals Patrick N. L. Bellinger and Albert C. Read.

In 1919, then-Commander Towers proposed, planned and led the first air crossing of the Atlantic.[11] Planning for the mission actually began during the early years of World War I, when Allied shipping was threatened by submarine warfare, but could not be accomplished prior to the war's end. The flying expedition began on 8 May 1919 when three Curtiss NC Flying Boats, designated NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4, left Naval Air Station Rockaway, New York,[12] The aircraft made intermediate stops in Chatham, Massachusetts and Halifax, Nova Scotia before reaching Trepassey, Newfoundland on 15 May 1919.

On 16 May they left for the longest leg of their journey, to the Azores. NC-1 and the NC-3 were both forced to land in heavy seas due to dense fog, and neither could take off again. NC-1 subsequently began taking on water and the crew was rescued by the Greek freighter Ionia.[13] The crew of the NC-3, including Towers, managed to keep the NC-3 afloat for 52 hours, water taxiing the craft over 200 miles to Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island. NC-4 went on to complete the transatlantic crossing, arriving at Lisbon on 27 May. For his leadership in the operation, Towers was awarded his second Navy Cross. He was also made a commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword by the Portuguese government on 3 June 1919.[14] Ten years later, Towers and the flight crew of NC-4 were awarded Congressional Gold Medals.[15]

The newly appointed Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics, U.S. Navy, Rear admiral John H. Towers, right, being administered the oath on June 1, 1939

Between the autumn of 1919 and the late winter of 1922 and 1923, Towers served at sea—as the executive officer of USS Aroostook and as the commanding officer of the old destroyer USS Mugford, which had been redesignated an aircraft tender. Then, after a tour as executive officer at NAS Pensacola, he spent two and one-half years—from March 1923 to September 1925—as an assistant naval attaché, serving at the American embassies at London, Paris, Rome, The Hague, and Berlin.

Returning to the United States in the autumn of 1925, he was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics and served as a member of the court of inquiry which investigated the loss of dirigible USS Shenandoah.

Towers next commanded USS Langley, the Navy's first aircraft carrier, from January 1927 to August 1928. He received a commendation for "coolness and courage in the face of danger" when a gasoline line caught fire and burned on board the carrier in December 1927. Towers personally led the vigorous and successful effort to suppress the flames kindled by the explosion and thus averted a catastrophe.

After shore duty in the Bureau of Aeronautics, Towers successively served as head of the plans division and later, as assistant bureau chief. Towers joined the staff of the Commander, Aircraft, Battle Force, under Rear Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, in June 1931. He was among the staff which planned a successful "attack" on Pearl Harbor during the Joint Army-Navy Exercise No. 4 in the Hawaiian Islands in February 1932—an operation which was to be duplicated on a larger scale by the Japanese in December 1941.

Between June 1933 and June 1939, Towers filled a variety of billets ashore and afloat: he completed the senior course at the Naval War College in 1934; commanded the Naval Air Station at San Diego; again served on the staff of ComAirBatFor; commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga; and became Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. On 1 June 1939, he was named chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics with the accompanying rank of rear admiral.

Allied sailors and officers watch General of the Army Douglas MacArthur sign documents during the surrender ceremony aboard Missouri on 2 September 1945. Towers is ninth from the right.

Naval Academy classmates, now admirals, in Pacific in November 1943: Calhoun, Towers, Ghormley and Fitch

Promoted to vice admiral on 6 October 1942, Towers became Commander, Air Force, Pacific Fleet. From this billet, he supervised the development, organization, training, and supply of the Fleet's growing aviation capability, and helped develop the strategy which spelled the doom of the Japanese fleet and eventual American victory in the Pacific. For his "sound judgment and keen resourcefulness", Towers received, successively, the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Service Medal.

Towers was subsequently promoted to the dual position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Area (DCINCPOA) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet (DCINCPAC). In this capacity, he served as Admiral Chester Nimitz's chief advisor on naval aviation policy, fleet logistics, and administration matters.[16]

In August 1945, Towers was given command of the Second Fast Carrier Task Force and Task Force 38, Pacific Fleet. He held this position in the closing days of the war.