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    Naval Air Station Pensacola
    Naval Air Station Pensacola
    Naval Air Station Pensacola
    Ebook177 pages50 minutes

    Naval Air Station Pensacola

    By Maureen Smith Keillor and AMEC (AW/SW) Richard P. Keillor MTS

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    About this ebook

    The world's first naval aeronautical station, Naval Air Station Pensacola is a dynamic and active station today.


    A sign at the gate of Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) welcomes visitors to "The Cradle of Naval Aviation" - and, indeed it is. It came into being when the USS Mississippi (BB-23) arrived in Pensacola on January 20, 1914, with seven aircraft, nine officers, and 23 men. Today, NASP hosts several schools and several branches of the US military. It is also the home of the Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, as well as the renowned National Naval Aviation Museum (NNAM), which displays more than 100 years of naval aviation, from a replica Curtiss hydroplane to the F-14 Tomcat.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJan 13, 2014
    ISBN9781439644492
    Naval Air Station Pensacola
    Author

    Maureen Smith Keillor

    Maureen Smith Keillor earned a bachelor of arts in history in 2011. This is her second book for Arcadia Publishing. Evelyn L. Wheeler has been a volunteer with the National Parks System at Fort Pickens, Pensacola, since 1987 and has been cataloging Civil War veterans" headstones at Fort Barrancas National Cemetery. Images have been drawn from a variety of sources, primarily from the Emil Buehler Library at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

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      Book preview

      Naval Air Station Pensacola - Maureen Smith Keillor

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      INTRODUCTION

      Although there is evidence of human activity in the Pensacola area for over 10,000 years, there has been a European military presence nearly continually since 1559, when Don Tristan de Luna attempted to establish a Spanish base there. For the Spanish, the attraction of the Gulf coast was threefold: a port to help in the defense of the treasure fleets; a means of keeping the French out of the area; and a base from which to spread the gospel to the inhabitants, as there were Dominican priests in de Luna’s company. Unfortunately for them, a month after landing, a severe hurricane killed many of the settlers and destroyed most of their ships, including supplies. After nearly two years of severe deprivations, the remainder of the company decided that the area was not even fit for their nearest competitors, the French, and abandoned the area they had named Polanco. It was not until 1686 that the bay was rediscovered by Juan Jordan Reina, who had been leading an expedition searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. According to William S. Coker in the book The New History of Florida, Reina described the Pensacola bay as the best I have ever seen in my life. Again, European politics and the struggle for dominance in the New World dictated events. The Spanish crown ordered fortifications built, and in 1698, Fort San Carlos was begun on what is today part of Naval Air Station Pensacola. From its time as a Spanish possession until 1821, when both East and West Florida were handed over to the United States as a result of the Adams-Onis Treaty, the flags of three nations flew over Pensacola—Spanish, French, and British—in a military and diplomatic tug-of-war.

      As soon as the Stars and Stripes flew over the Florida Territory, Andrew Jackson, as its first appointed military governor, proposed Pensacola as a site for a naval installation. On the heels of the War of 1812, which ended in 1815, Jackson recognized the vulnerability of Florida’s coastline. Additionally, poor roads and the lack of railroads isolated Florida from the rest of the nation. Congress approved the construction of a naval base in Pensacola in 1824, and in 1825, Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard sent a panel of Navy captains—William Bainbridge, Lewis Warrington, and James Biddle—to choose the site. Additionally, in 1828, Pres. John Quincy Adams authorized the purchase of land east of Pensacola along the Old Federal Road, which had been constructed between Pensacola and Florida’s other city, St. Augustine. Today, the area, maintained by the National Park Service, proclaims itself as America’s first tree farm. On the land grew the beautiful live oaks that not only gave the Naval Live Oaks area its name, but provided the dense wood that gave ships like the USS Constitution their ironsides quality. Little was accomplished at the Navy yard for many years, until the threat of war with Mexico. Then, it was provided with supplies and equipment for the repair and outfitting of the fleet. However, during this time, the US Department of Engineers had been at work establishing fortifications to Pensacola’s harbor, building Fort Redoubt to the west of the area selected for the yard, Fort Pickens to the south on Santa Rosa Island, and Fort McRee on Perdido Key, west of Santa Rosa. In addition, the old Spanish fort, San Carlos de Barrancas, was enlarged.

      After the war with Mexico, this situation reversed itself. The forts stood empty, and the Pensacola Navy Yard enjoyed a period of intense activity. The focus was on shipbuilding, using the dense wood of the plentiful live oaks in the area. War again rearranged affairs at the yard. Because of its strategic location in the South, Pensacola Navy Yard nearly took on the role of Fort Sumter in the Civil War. US Army lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer wisely opted to consolidate the forces of the four forts within the walls of Fort Pickens. A combination of politics, family loyalties, and bad weather staved off the Confederate attack until after Fort Sumter had already become the flashpoint of the war. The story is told of William Conway, an old quartermaster of 40 years’ service in the Navy: Confederate forces entered the Navy yard to occupy it, ordering Conway to lower the flag. According to the account given at the dedication ceremony of a plaque in his honor, Conway said, I will not do it, sir! That is the flag of my country under which I have served many years. I love it; and will not dishonor it by hauling it down now. Conway was promptly thrown in irons, but he was later celebrated as a hero in his native Maine. The yard was held by the Confederates for several months, during which time more than one battle took place across the bay between Fort Pickens and the Navy yard. But the yard was abandoned when it was realized that the cost of holding it was higher than its value, since it was of no use as a base of naval operations. Getting out of the harbor would be impossible for the Confederates under the guns of Union-held Fort Pickens.

      The retreating Confederate forces demolished almost everything standing at the yard. Although rebuilding by Federal forces began soon after, with peace came a lull that again brought a slack tide to construction. But tides change, like peacetime and war. War with Spain over Cuba and Puerto Rico brought an increased importance to Pensacola Navy Yard. New construction erupted, including new technology such as wireless stations and electric power plants. Along with the Spanish-American War, the construction of the Panama Canal gave the Navy yard a lease on life, if only temporary.

      In 1906, the yard fell victim to the whims of Mother

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