Godfrey Chevalier
| Godfrey De Courcelles Chevalier | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 7, 1889 Providence, R.I. |
| Died | November 14, 1922 (aged 33) Norfolk Naval Hospital |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1907-1922 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Commands held | NAS Dunkerque, France |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal |
Lt. Cdr. Godfrey DeCourcelles Chevalier, USN (7 March 1889 – 14 November 1922) was a pioneering naval aviator of the United States Navy of World War I and the early 1920s.
Born in Providence, R.I., 7 March 1889, Chevalier graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1910. He was appointed a Naval Air Pilot 7 November 1915 and a Naval Aviator 7 November 1918.
On 8 May 1913, Ensign Chevalier was the passenger in a long-distance flight of 169 miles, flown in a Curtiss flying boat piloted by Lt. John H. Towers, Naval Aviator No. 3, 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.[1]
In 1916 he participated in the installation of the first real catapult used in the Navy and piloted the first plane to be launched by catapult, from USS North Carolina (ACR-12). In November 1917 he commanded the first naval air station in France, at Dunkerque, and for World War I service was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
In 1922 he was attached to Langley (CV-1), the first U.S. aircraft carrier, in connection with fitting her out. On 26 October 1922 Lieutenant Commander Chevalier flew Aeromarine 39-B, No. 606, which made the first landing on Langley's deck.
This distinguished pioneer of naval aviation died at the Norfolk Naval Hospital 14 November 1922 as a result of injuries sustained in the crash near Lockhaven, Virginia, of a Vought VE-7 on 12 November while flying from NAS Norfolk to Yorktown, Virginia.[2]
[edit] Namesake
Two US Navy destroyers have been named USS Chevalier in his honor, as was the landplane flying field at NAS Pensacola (Chevalier Field).
[edit] References
- ^ http://home.earthlink.net/~ralphcooper/pimage5.htm
- ^ Linder, Bruce, "Tidewater's Navy", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, Library of Congress card number 2005019790, ISBN 1-59114-465-5, page 154.
