U. S. naval Aviation Birthplace. The Porto Corsini Boys, First America’s Top Guns, By CF Marco Sciarretta “

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The Porto Corsini boys, first America’s Top Guns

By Marco Sciarretta

The U.S. Navy’s interest in heavier-than air flying machines emerged as early as the end of XIX Century, after the first successful experiment of Professor Samuel P. Langley, who in 1896 built and flown the first airplane (actually, an unmanned vehicle) possessing inherent stability. Since 1908, following the public demonstration of Wright Flyer, several naval observers attended official tests and air meets, in the States and abroad, appreciating the potential value of the airplane in naval warfare. In 1910 the Navy endeavored the first successful experiment of take-off and landing aboard a ship (U.S.S. Birmingham) and, in 1914, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels went so far to announce that had been reached the point “…where aircraft must form a large part of our naval forces for offensive and defensive operations”1. Anyway, when the call came for the U.S. Navy in April 1917, after three years of war in Europe, the Air service was limited to operate a single Naval Air Station (Pensacola) and only 54 aircraft, none of them available for the purposes of war.

At the outbreak of hostilities it suddenly became necessary to obtain a mass of skilled pilots, observers and ground personnel. The effort to create and train the amazing number of specialized personnel required was in itself an impressive task, as demonstrated by the sheer numbers: 38 Officers and 163 Aviation ratings on the 6 of April 1917; 6.710 Officers (1.650 Naval aviators, 288 student Naval aviators, 891 ground Officers, in addition to other 3.881 under training), and 30.693 men (21.951 Aviation and 8.742 General ratings) on the 11 of November 19182 .

The ‘’Winged Goat’’ insignia of Porto Corsini NAS

1 Adrian O. Van Wyen (Deputy CNO – Air), Naval aviation in World War i. Washington,

D.C., Chief of naval Operations, 1969. Geoffrey Rossano, Thomas Wildenberg, Striking the

Hornets’ Nest: Naval aviation and the origins of Strategic Bombing in World War i, Naval

Institute Press, 2015. 2 V. H. Sitz, (Capt., U.S.M.C.), a History of U.S. Naval aviation (Technical Note No 18, Series of 1930). Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1930.

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The U.S. Navy emerged from the war with all the necessary ingredients to become “second to none”. Ironically, although the Navy’s pre- and post-war emphasis in operating aircraft with the fleet, operations from land bases would prove to be the most important during the conflict3. In view of the focus on the anti-submarine campaign, a lot of brand-new Naval Air Stations spread all across the Atlantic shores, along the East coast, from Canada to Panama (23), and overseas in Ireland (5), England (2), France (12) and, finally, in Italy4. The first Italian station, NAS Bolsena, would become in short time the bigger flying school of the Navy outside the States. The second one, NAS Porto Corsini, was marked by the peculiar primacy to host the first Fighter/Attack unit of the U.S. Naval Aviation. Even more, as stated by the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, Admiral H. T. Mayo, after his inspection on the 10 of November 1918, the Porto Corsini Station simply had “the distinction of being the most heavily engaged unit of the U.S. Naval Forces in europe”.

The roots of this history can be found in the successful development of Italian Naval Aviation during the WWI. As the American counterpart, the swift expansion, in technology, tactics, operative doctrine, and sheer numbers, of the Italian Navy (regia Marina) Air Service was impressive: 36 Naval Aviators (including NCO and students) and 90 Aviation ratings on the 24 of May 24, 1915; 991 Naval Aviators (272 Officers, 719 NCO and students), and 6.933 men (2.671 Aviation and 4.262 General ratings) on the 4 of November 1918.

The course of Italian naval warfare was heavily influenced by the geography and the nature of the opponents. Facing – almost unexpectedly – the ancient Austro-Hungarian adversaries in the long and narrow Adriatic Sea, the Italian Navy had to develop new guidelines to contain the enemy’s battle fleet, harassing his coastal traffic and protecting, at the same time, the seaward flank of the Italian Army. Moreover, despite the Kingdom of Italy avoided to declare war against Germany, the Navy had soon to cope the clandestine submarine offensive carried out, under false flag, by German U-Boote5 .

The Italian Navy built-up an innovative, unseen doctrine of littoral warfare, ahead of its time, in order to avoid the misleading objective of a “decisive” (but probably useless) Mahan’ style battle against the enemy fleet. Under the cover

3 O’Hara, Vincent P., Dickson, W. David, and Worth, Richard: to Crown the Waves, the

Great Navies of the First World War. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013. 4 Roy A. Grossnick, United States Naval aviation 1910-1995. Washington, D.C., Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, 1997 5 Enrico Cernuschi, Andrea Tirondola, Noi e loro, la Grande Guerra in adriatico – Strategie, tecnologie e battaglie. Roma, Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare, 2015.

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of a fleet in being modern battleship force, the Navy managed a combined offensive effort relying on destroyers, submarines, aircraft, motor torpedo boats and, finally, special-attack weapons. The continuous wear imposed to the Austrians by mine warfare, hit-and-run destroyer strikes behind enemy lines, harassing by submarines and torpedo boats, under the ubiquitous protection of Italian Naval Aviation, ultimately reach the goal to win the naval war against Austria-Hungary. Moreover, in wider sense, the final results of the struggle over – and under – the sea, in Atlantic as in the Mediterranean, was at last decisive in the ultimate collapse of the Central Powers.

In the Fall of 1917, after arresting the enemy offensive in Cortellazzo, preventing thus Germans and Austrians to arrive in Venice (perhaps the last possibility to win, in the wake of the Caporetto offensive, the entire European war) the Italian Navy turned back to an offensive attitude, adding the traditional strategy of harassing enemy movement with a round-the-clock hammering, by sea and air, of Austro-Hungarian seaward side. In addition to daily shore bombardments by scouts, destroyers and gunships, the Venice Station flyingboats provided a faultless air cover, with day (and since 1918, even night) Combat Air Patrol, incessant strafing of enemy communication lines, observation and fire direction for heavy artillery, hunt for Draken balloons ensuring, ultimately, the air superiority against Austrian-Hungarian Air force6 .

Although the preeminence in terms of GDP and industrial production, the Italian shortage of manpower, compared with Habsburg (40% more population in Austro-Hungarian Empire only, without taking in account the increasing German support) put the Country under a demanding effort. Not surprisingly, in November 1917, the Italian Navy requested, by the Italian naval attaché at Washington, that the current activities of the United States Naval Aviation were extended to Italy, offering to equip the stations with aircraft, ground support and facilities, if the U.S. Navy would handle man and operate them.

The resulting agreement was drawn up in Rome by Lieutenant John L. Callan, (U.S. Naval Reserve Force, in service at Foreign Service Command, U.S. Naval Aviation Forces, Paris), and Captain De Filippi (head of Italian naval Air Service). The agreement, approved by Governments in February 1918, provided accordingly that the Naval Air Stations at Bolsena (a training station on the homonym Lake, about 60 miles northeast of Rome), Porto Corsini (Northern Adriatic, near the town of Ravenna and some 50 miles south of Venice) and

6 Giancarlo Garello, l’aviazione della regia Marina, in la Grande Guerra aerea 19151918. Vicenza,: Edizioni Gino Rossato, 1994.

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The Italian-American Staff, Bolsena Station (USMM)

Pescara (Southern Adriatic, under construction) should be taken over by the U.S. Navy. Porto Corsini, covering the main Austrian naval base at Pola, was destined to become in short time the spearhead of the entire U.S. Naval Aviation.

Lieutenant (later, Lieutenant Commander) Mario Calderara, (1879-1944) was assigned to build-up the Bolsena Inter-allied Flying School. He had already been appreciated for the results and efficiency achieved in 1916 when managing the Sesto Calende Training Center, near Milan. Among his other positions, Lieutenant Calderara (Italian Pilot License No. #001 - instructor pilot: Wilbur Wright) was even, at the beginning of the war, the coordinator of Venice Air Defense. A system notably credited of a confirmed killing rate of 4%, that forced Austrians to stop daylight operations in the area from 1916 until the end of the war. The Bolsena School direction was a pleasant assignment For Calderara, particularly suitable to his temperament and management skills. Operating the planes with proficiency and carefulness, the training station would reach in short time an uncommon level of procedure standardization and flying safety, minimizing the attrition to a very low rate, quite rare for the age7 .

7 Ludovico Calderara, Attilio Marchetti, Mario Calderara, aviatore e inventore. Firenze, Lo-

Gisma editore, 1999.

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On the 19 of February 1918 the first American aviators arrived at Bolsena. Two days later the Detachment was officially under commission of the United States Navy, under the direction of Ensign W. B. Atwater, U.S. Naval Aviator No. #112. The courses, that included ground working and flying activities, were mainly managed by Italian Navy instructors, giving way to American instructors as soon as the latter completed the conversion to Italian planes. In the same days the Command of U.S. Naval Aviation Forces in Italy was activated at the American Embassy in Rome8, under the now Lieutenant Commander Callan, who assumed effective command on the 25 of April 1918.

The Bolsena Ground school provided instruction in theory of flight, navigation, engines, Navy Regulations and signals, while flying training activities began using FBa flying boats. The FBa (a French project built in Italy under license), similar in configuration and power plant to Italian l.1 and l.3, but considered weaker and lower performer, was generally operated at that period for limited instruction purposes. Soon after, the arrival of some “state of the art” Macchi l.3 scout/bomber and M.5 fighter crafts allowed to start type conversion and, thereafter, operational training in these two types9 .

Macchi M.5 (USMM)

8 The Naval Attaché (and Officer of Naval Intelligence) was Commander Charles R. Train (1879-1967), later Rear Admiral, was who had a fierce confrontation with Fiorello La Guardia concerning the procurement of the Caproni bomber for the U. S. Naval Aviation [Rossano, Wildenberg, pp. 134, 137, 207] 9 Mauro Antonellini, Salvat Ubi lucet, la base idrovolanti di Porto Corsini e i suoi uomini 1915-1918. Faenza, Casanova Editore, 2008.

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A prominent manager of the school, from June 1918, was the “Special Course Director” (Fighter Weapons instructor) Federico Martinengo (18971943). The 21 years-old Lieutenant, former 260th Squadriglia (Squadron) Commanding Officer, was already a starring ace with five confirmed victories, three of which (including the Austro-Hungarian top ace Goffredo de Banfield) in the same combat.

Bolsena Naval Air Station statistics, as to the number of machines and amount of flights reported during its nine months of operation, were: greatest number of machines, 18; number of flights, 5,540; actual flying time, 2,216 hours 9 minutes. 73 U.S. Navy pilots attained their Italian golden wings in Bolsena, about 8% of the total Naval Air Service in the same period. The only fatal accident occurred on the 20 of March 1918, when Machinist Mate First class Clarence A. Nelson was killed while making his first solo flight. In his memory, the town of R. Marina Pilot wings Bolsena named the road leading from the town to the hangars, Via Nelson10 .

After completing the course a total of 134 U.S. Navy Officers and Petty Officers were assigned to Porto Corsini Naval Air Station, joined by other 46 Officers and 331 men, arrived on the 23 of July 1918 from Pauillac (Gironde, France), under command of Lieutenant Willis B. Haviland (1890-1944), U.S. Naval Reserve Force11. The following day Lieutenant Haviland, as new Commanding Officer, put the new Naval Air Station in commission under the U.S. Navy, and air operations commenced. As stated by the Italian-U.S. agreement, the base was supplied by Italian Armed Forces with everything but food and uniforms. The planes also, quickly increased from the initial 3 to a maximum of 21, wore Italian Navy standard camouflage and markings, and were decorated by their airmen with a stylized goat symbol on the side, whence the “Goat island” nickname of the American base. The planes themselves were all standard, latest generation, Macchi flying boats: M.8 two-seater scout/ bombers and M.5 single-seater fighter, armed with two machine guns12 .

10Sitz, op. cit. 11Van Wyen, op. cit. 12Antonellini, op. cit.

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Porto Corsini was located in a strategic position, about 50 NM South of Venice Stazione Miraglia Naval Air Station, probably in these days the most busy airport of the world, and 64 NM westward from Pola, the key Austrian naval base which was, of course, the main objective of the Allied Aviators. Air squadrons from both stations could easily rendezvous to join their strikes on Pola, an extremely well protected harbor sheltered by huge defenses consisting of 18 forts and batteries, armed with no less than 114 antiaircraft guns and covered by the air from ground-based aircraft. All operations would have been carried out under the coordination of the Italian naval commander at Venice.

Even if Porto Corsini was in a very apt location, considering the theatre of operations, it suffered to be a basic, provisional location, that in current terms would be defined Forward operating Base. The seaplane station had been built around an artificial canal - about 100 feet wide - along the low and exposed coast of western Adriatic. All landings had to be made on the canal, a real difficulty for the pilots, whereas the prevailing wind was at right angles to the direction of the canal itself. This disadvantage was somewhat counteracted by a specific preparation at Bolsena, training pilots to land on an area, marked off by buoys, which equaled the width of the Porto Corsini canal.

The baptism of fire for Americans came very soon: an attack, fortunately harmless, in the night of 25 of July by a squadron of enemy planes, that overflew the camp dropping bombs. The station was missed, and the majority of bombs landed in the marshes further up the coast, although two large shells landed within 500 yards of the base, making holes eight meters in diameter, and from four to five meters deep13 .

The Navy airmen were eager to strike the enemy and prove their worth, and combat operations began on 18 of August, when Porto Corsini NAS carried out its first mission with a leaflet-drop mission. Of all the kind of mission flown on the Italian Front, this activity most exasperated the Austrians, who had announced that anyone caught engaged in this activity would be regarded as a spy and summarily executed14 .

It was during one of these missions that enlisted pilot (later Ensign) Charles Hazeltine “Haze” Hammann (1892-1919), Naval Aviator # 1494, a Naval Reserve Force coming from the Baltimore University gang, put his name on the honor roll with his daring rescue of a fellow pilot under attack by Austrian aircraft off Pola. He was the first Naval Aviator decorated with the Medal of Honor: Admiral

13Sitz, op. cit. 14Van Wien, op. cit.

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W. S. Sims (1858-1936), Commander U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, said of his work that day, “I know no finer individual exploit in the war”15 . On the 21 of August, in the morning, five M.5 fighters and two M.8 bombers set out towards Pola, for another mission of reconnaissance and leaflets dropping across the Adriatic. After 15 minutes underway, one of the bombers and one of the fighters had to return because of engine troubles. The remaining bomber, and the four fighters flown by Ensigns George H. Ludlow (leader), E. H. “Pete” Parker, Dudley A. Vorhees, and “Haze” Hammann continued on. At 11:20, approaching Pola from the south in order to avoid fire from anti-aircraft batteries at the harbor entrance, the bomber drop the load at the height of 2400 m, under the cover of the fighters operating at 3600 m. Five Phönix D.i landplane fighters immediately took off, climbed rapidly and in five minutes neared the American aircraft. The enemy was coming in two sections, the first of which was made up of three planes. As the Austrians neared the altitude of the M.8, Ludlow led his fighters into a dive toward the adversaries, to break up the intercept and protect the bomber. After the first pass, both Parker and Voorhees broke off with jammed guns, leaving Ludlow and Hammann to carry on the fight. While Hammann took on the two planes of the second section, Ludlow was in a fight with three, sending one down smoking just before taking hits in his propeller and engine. Streaming oil and on fire, he went into a spin but managed to pull out and make a crash-landing five miles off the Pola Harbor.

Hammann, whose fighter plane was also damaged, evaded his pursuers and landed alongside the downed pilot; although the unfavorable sea state, and the wind blowing at 20 Kts, he succeeded to touch the sea beside the Ludlow wrecked plane. Ludlow opened the port in the bottom of his airplane, to make the Macchi sink faster, and made his way over to Hammann’s plane. Ludlow scrambled up behind the pilot’s seat and grasped the vertical struts to keep from being swept back into the propeller or off into the sea. The tiny Macchi fighter was built to carry only one man and, moreover, was damaged in the bow section. With no time to jettison his gun or ammunitions, to lighten the plane,

15Hendrick, Burton J., Sims, William S.: the Victory at Sea, London: John Murray, 1920.

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Pola 1918-08-21 (U.S. Navy)

Hammann opened the throttle full out, slowly gathering speed and finally got airborne, turning for his 60-mile flight back to home. When on Porto Corsini, Hammann made a good approach and touchdown, but the crosswind in the smoother waters of the “Canal of Worried Landings”, and the major damage in the bow, caused the turning over of the plane, completely wrecking it. Pulled from the canal by a rescue boat standing, they were safely back to Goat island16 .

For his extraordinary heroism in carrying out the rescue under hazardous conditions, the President of the United States awarded the Medal of Honor to Hammann, while Ludlow received the Navy Cross.

Until the end of hostilities on the Italian front, on the 4 of November, in addition to a number of anti-submarine patrols and to the usual task of armed reconnaissance, NAS Porto Corsini carried out several other offensive operations against Pola, dropping a considerable number of bombs upon the arsenal. In the major strike of the 22 of October, five bombers and eight M.5s left in the afternoon for a bombing offensive against the enemy base in conjunction with the Italian squadrons from Venice. It is noteworthy that 13 out of the total of 43 planes taking part in this operation were from Porto Corsini, although there were then only 16 planes at the American Station.

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In almost 100 days in action, under the inspiring leadership of Lieutenant Haviland, the leading edge of Porto Corsini operates up to 27 pilots and 21 machines at the same time, and a total of 745 flights were made during active war operations. Although the Station suffered no casualties to direct enemy action, there were unfortunately four deaths from accidents: Landsman James L. Goggings, USNRF, that fell on a M.5, on August 11; Ensign Louis J. Bergen, USNRF and Gunner (R) Thomas L. Murphy USN, both deceased by injuries after the crash of a M.8 on the 15 of September; Coppersmith George B. Killeen, USNRF, in a ground accident on the 18 of September.

The Pescara Station, the third which would be operated from the U.S. Navy in Italy, was completed just before the unexpected collapse of Habsburg Empire on the 4 of November 1918. The first Naval Aviation detachment, under the command of Ensign Joseph H. Green, United States Naval Reserve Force, began to operate on the 22 of October, but upon the signing of the Armistice the project to activate the air station, tasked to cover by air the naval forces (including the U.S. Navy’s Sub Chasers) operating in southern Adriatic, was abandoned17 .

After the war, the careers of Italian and American Naval Aviators were divided, some of them remaining in the Navy, some others undertaking civilian activities in the roaring Twenties.

Sadly, a few months after the end of hostilities, the MoH Ensign Charles “Haze” Hammann was killed while on active duty, at Langley Field, VA, after the fatal crash of his Macchi M.5. Willis Bradley Haviland, the rousing leader of Porto Corsini, passed also to active duty in the Naval Service. His uncommon military career began at the age of 17, enlisted in the Navy. Following to retirement, and after Engineering degree, he joined the French Foreign Legion in 1915 to fight in Europe, to become aviator in 1916 as lafayette escadrille pilot. After commissioning in 1917 to U.S. Naval Reserve, and following the choice to remain in the Navy, after the Italian experience he spent the following years to perfect the flying operations aboard battleship. Retired in 1925, he returned in active service, as Captain, after Pearl Harbor and began, in 1943, the skilful organizer of Whidbey Island NAS, a training base operating as “Unit generator” for the Pacific war. At present day, Whidbey still operates 17 Active Duty and 3 Ready Reserve Squadrons.

Commander Mario Calderara became Air Attaché in Washington, in 1923. He was awarded the American Navy Cross, in appreciation of the large benefit

17 Sitz, op. cit.

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to the U.S. Navy connected to his work in Bolsena. Retired in 1925, after working in the States and in France, he returned to Italy in 1940 and died in Rome in March 1944, shortly before the liberation from German occupation. Few months before, the Rear Admiral Federico Martinengo, Commander of the Anti-Submarine School, lost tragically his life fighting against the ancient German enemies, while aboard of a Motor Torpedo Boat, in the clashes following the September 1943 German invasion.

In the same period Emmy, the same young wife of Mario Calderara, who twenty-five years before had contributed so much to create a welcoming atmosphere in Bolsena for the American boys, and his daughter Angelica, the mascot of the Station, were involved in support of the Italian Navy Intelligence activities against the Germans. When the advancing U.S. Armed Forces came to Rome, one of the first guests of the Calderara ladies was their old and close friend, the then Lieutenant Commander, and now Captain, John Lansing Callan. Captain Callan, who had held the position, in 1940, of Naval Attaché in Italy was, in 1944, the U.S. Navy member for the Allied Commission. By means of that a full circle in the Italian-American friendship and collaboration was so emblematically closed.

At the present day, the Italian Navy’s Air Force (aviazione Navale), as well as the U.S. Naval Air Service, are working together in several common fields, beginning with the training syllabus of Naval Aviators, as Italian students regularly earn their golden wings in the USN Flying Schools. An unsurprising reverse flow, after one century, considering the current proportion and the high standardization level between the Italian and American Naval Aviations. Interestingly, the aviazione Navale Operational Training base, located near Catania (Sicily), side-by-side with the U.S. Navy’s Sigonella NAS, was named in 1963 after Commander Mario Calderara, the father of Italian naval aviation and creator of Bolsena air school. Moreover, the most recent Italian Navy frigate, the “Bergamini” Class Federico Martinengo, was launched in March 2017, dedicated to the WWI ace who also initiated the American naval aviators to the art of air combat. A skill which has been perfected over decades, in peace and war, up to the present Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, aka top Gun. On the industrial side, the recent “Freedom” Class littoral Combat Ship, a XXI Century network-centric platform developed for U.S. Navy by Fincantieri/Marinette, is motorized by Isotta Fraschini high-performance engines, the same prestigious brand powering, one hundred years before, the Macchi flying boat fighters, to deal with a similar demanding requirement matching great lightness and power.

Nowadays, it is also still possible discover some little but interesting legacies of the first pattern of Italian-U.S. teamwork, from sport scope, to food, to cinema. Ravenna, near Porto Corsini, still remained the homeland of the Italian volley, as Italians boys

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were fascinated by the game played by American sailors (and following a huge supply of volleyballs by YMCa…). Moreover, a tasty connection with gastronomy originates from the smoked salmon fish, previously unknown in the Italian cuisine but suddenly joined with cream and pasta to create new culinary specialties. Finally, and unpredictably, in the animation masterwork Porco rosso, a 1992 film by the celebrated Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, there is even a touching last remembrance of the pioneering times of wooden flying boats, and of their crews, fighting in the rugged skies over northern Adriatic.

Strike Missions over Northern Adriatic