One Century Ago: Naval Air Station Norfolk's First Skipper, Part 2

By Ira R. Hanna
HRNM Docent & Contributing Writer

Commander P.N.L. Bellinger in the prime of his career, probably during his time on the staff of Adm. Ernest J. King in 1933. (National Archives and Records Administration via Naval History and Heritage Command/ Flickr)

P.N.L. Bellinger’s tour as the first commanding officer of NAS Norfolk was just the first of many times his Naval career brought him to the region. One of Bellinger’s additional assignments from October 14 to November 1, 1920, was to be the Naval observer of the Army’s bombing of the obsolete battleship Indiana (BB 1) in Tangier Sound in the Chesapeake Bay. After a series of air attacks by Army planes and planted explosives designed to test the effectiveness of her underwater compartments and double hull, the ship was sunk.

A plume from a near-miss dwarfs the predreadnought battleship Indiana (designated Coast Battleship 1) during aerial bombing demonstrations.  (William Mitchell Collection/ Library of Congress via Naval History and Heritage Command Flickr)

Bellinger determined that it was impressive, but not fully conclusive. He again was chosen to be the Navy’s witness of a similar test in July 1921 when the former German battleship Ostfriesland was sunk by Army Brigadier General “Billy” Mitchell’s planes in the Atlantic Ocean a few miles off the Virginia Capes. Although Mitchell claimed that the success of his land-based planes made naval aviation unnecessary, Bellinger disagreed and for the rest of his career fought to keep a separate naval air corps. In fact, in every billet he held, he sought to preserve and expand naval aviation.

SMS Ostfriesland is pummeled by Army aircraft during aerial bombardment tests conducted in July 1921. (William Mitchell Collection/ Library of Congress via Naval History and Heritage Command Flickr)

Whenever he got the chance, Bellinger stated that aircraft should be with the fleet to gain control of the air above it, prior to any naval battle. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge named a lawyer, Dwight Morrow, to head a board of inquiry to determine the future of military aviation. In his testimony, Bellinger made nine recommendations including the need for naval aviation to be a combatant force within the fleet. Among other things he recommended that naval aviation be recognized as a permanent career for officers and enlisted men; that there be established a “flight line” to determine succession to command; that commanders of aviation activities including aircraft carriers and tenders only be officers permanently assigned to naval aviation; that seniority of officers in naval aviation be fairly integrated into the fleet; that a school of strategy and tactics be established for naval aviation; and that a separate naval aviation experiment and test station be established. Most of them were included in the board’s final report. In May and June 1926, Congress acted quickly to make them part of bills that authorized the restructuring of the military air forces. Not only was the Naval Air Corps permanently established, but a five-year, 1,000-plane program was approved. Also, the experimental test and repair facilities at NAS Norfolk that Bellinger had taken command of in 1918 were firmly established.

An Aeromarine 39B is taken aboard USS Langley (CV 1) at Naval Operating Base Norfolk on July 19, 1923. (National Archives and Records Administration via NHHC/Flickr)

In late 1926, as aviation aide to Admiral Charles F. Hughes, battle fleet commander and prospective Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Bellinger was able to further influence future naval aviation policy, facilities, and ship development. He passed on to Hughes the ideas about carrier doctrine that Rear Admiral Joseph M. Reeves had developed as Commander Air, Battle Fleet. Even though Hughes was an engineer and a “big gun” sailor, his experience at the Naval War College with Bellinger had changed his mind. He even qualified as a carrier pilot at the age of 53 and flew his flag aboard the Navy’s first carrier, the Langley (CV 1), stationed in Hampton Roads.

USS Wright (AV-1) at Pier 2, Naval Operating Base Norfolk, in 1929. (Naval History and Heritage Command image)

On July 1, 1931, Commander Bellinger assumed command of the aircraft tender USS Wright (AV 1) and began his preparation for flag rank. He was known to follow “Navy regs” in meting out punishments at captain’s mast. On the other hand, he most enjoyed giving praise at commendatory masts. 

Friend to Sailor and animals alike, Cmdr. Bellinger is shown here with a kinkajou that served as mascot aboard USS Langley (CV 1). (Hampton Roads Naval Museum file)

In February 1932, Bellinger was ordered to command Langley. On board in one of the air squadrons was Ensign (later admiral) John T. Haywood. Haywood described the admiration the crew had for Bellinger – from boot seaman to young aviators and all his squadron commanders – by saying, “He never got excited when they [the pilots] made rather difficult landings on the flight deck [they were required to make seven safe landings to be qualified]. You must remember, in those days, when we came to the fleet, we had never seen a carrier, let alone landed on one.”

USS Langley (CV 1) at anchor, at Colon, Canal Zone, circa 1933.  Other ships present include USS Lexington (CV 2), USS Saratoga (CV 3), USS Texas (BB 35), USS New York (BB 34), USS Pennsylvania (BB 38), and an assortment of light and heavy cruisers. (Naval History and Heritage Command image)

On June 15, 1933, Bellinger was ordered to the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) as Admiral Ernest J. King’s Head of Plans Division. As such, he made recommendations to the Navy’s General Board (the Navy’s advisory board for strategy and planning) that oversaw all military spending. He recommended the types of aircraft the Navy should acquire and their rate of production, the scope of new construction at shore stations, and the distribution, organization, and assignment of all aircraft squadrons and detachments. The future of Naval aviation literally was in his hands. He made sure that Naval aviation in Hampton Roads not only survived in those lean times, but expanded.

Bellinger made captain on June 30, 1935, and when he was detached from King’s staff on June 23, 1938, he was ordered for the second time to command NAS Norfolk. At first, his tasks lay mostly in the supervision of civilians who repaired, overhauled and assembled aircraft. But he also commanded and trained 44 officers and 450 enlisted men assigned to Patrol Wing Five. These planes were later used to search for German submarines from the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Wilmington, North Carolina. He also had observation balloons, transport, and utility planes. As required, his station also serviced carrier air groups. While his PB2Y-2 seaplanes were much better than the Curtiss A-2, in which he learned to fly or the F5-L he had at Norfolk in 1917, the planes lacked armor and fuel tank protection. This he corrected very quickly.

When his old friend Rear Admiral Joseph K. Taussig, then Commandant, Fifth Naval District stationed at Naval Operating Base Norfolk, directed him to prepare for an inspection of his air station by President Roosevelt, Bellinger did not know what to expect. When Taussig introduced him to the President, Roosevelt said “Well Pat, I saved you for the Navy.” Bellinger was astounded that Roosevelt remembered that in 1920, when he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he had counseled Bellinger not to take the higher paid civilian job he had been offered. Even though Bellinger was disgusted with how Naval aviators were treated, Roosevelt said he was needed more by the Navy and to stay in the service. It was fortunate for Hampton Roads and the Navy that he took the future president’s advice.

Soon though, the mission of NAS Norfolk changed and Bellinger’s job became an important part of America’s preparations for war. The Naval Expansion Act of May 1939 increased the tonnage of aircraft carriers as well as other surface ships and authorized the president to increase the number of Naval aircraft to not less than 3,000. Congress soon raised that number to 15,000. Earlier that year, the Hepburn Board (appointed to survey Naval aviation shore establishments) had recommended the enlargement of the eleven existing air stations and the creation of sixteen new ones. On April 25, Congress appropriated sixty-five million dollars for military construction. Soon thereafter, the Board visited NAS Norfolk to determine how best to spend the ten million allotted to it. Although the station had two grass-covered outlying fields, these were not enough to accommodate the number of carrier squadrons expected to be based there as a result of the increase in the Naval air corps. The patrol wing assigned to the base also would be expected to increase its responsibility as a result of the Neutrality Patrol established after war broke out in Europe in September 1939.

On orders from BuAer, Bellinger sought to acquire at least four additional practice airfields near his station. He selected the sites and also recommended that they have hard-surface runways. The Board disagreed and the Navy Department upheld its decision. Even so, Bellinger got his way. When Virginia’s 2nd District (Norfolk and Portsmouth) Congressman Colgate Darden happened to call him, he told Darden what he needed. Darden had enlisted in the Navy in 1917, had taken Naval flight training, and served in Europe until injured. Darden said he would introduce the necessary legislation. It quickly passed Congress, and Bellinger received the land and paved runways he wanted. One of them was Oceana Naval Air Station that is now a Master Jet Complex that dwarfs its original purpose.

Bellinger was promoted to rear admiral on December 1, 1940 and took over naval aviation in Hawaii. He was in the thick of the fighting on that “infamous day” in December 1941. Later, he helped plan the stunning victory at Midway. In July 1942, he left Pearl Harbor to deliver Admiral Chester Nimitz’s reorganization plan for Naval aviation in the Pacific to Admiral Ernest King, then the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). Bellinger did not realize that he would not return. When he arrived in Washington, he was ordered to Bethesda Naval Hospital for a physical examination. Bellinger’s generally deteriorating physical condition from overwork had been noticed and a period of rest in the states had been ordered.

After his release from the hospital, he went to see King who ordered him to get out of town for a few days. After a week, King told Bellinger to report back to him. The CNO had called Nimitz and it had been arranged for Bellinger to be the CNO’s Deputy Chief of Staff. As such, he continued to fight for a better organization for Naval aviation. Finally, he got King to obtain presidential approval to create a new Deputy CNO for Air. When King asked who he would recommend for the position, Bellinger suggested Rear Admiral Alva D. Bernhard who at the time was Commander Naval Air Forces Atlantic (COMNAVAIRLANT.) He guessed correctly that King would approve of Bernhard because he had taken flight training with King as an over age surface officer in the 1920s. With the position vacant, Bernhard and Bellinger switched jobs and Bellinger came back to Norfolk as COMNAVAIRLANT.

At this time the major problem on the Atlantic coast was that German U-boats had sunk more than 5.7 million tons of merchant shipping. Improvement in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) was paramount. It was the same problem Bellinger faced when he first came to N.A.S. Norfolk in 1917, but more intense. Naval historian Samuel E. Morison stated that “From his Hampton Roads office, Bellinger opened a new and brilliant chapter for Naval antisubmarine warfare.”

He established the Air Anti-Submarine Development Detachment Atlantic that taught pilots the latest ASW tactics, tested new devices, and equipped planes with a microwave search radar that even German Admiral Karl Doenitz acknowledged to be the greatest single factor in defeating the U-boats. In addition, Bellinger created Combat Information Centers and Fighter Director Officer Teams aboard his carriers. With the defeat of the U-boats, the safe passage of convoys of men and supplies to Europe made the success of our armies in Europe possible. On October 5, 1943, Bellinger received his third star and became a vice admiral. For his service as COMNAVAIRLANT, Bellinger received a Distinguished Service Medal from the U.S. Navy. He also was given the Legion of Honor with rank of Officer and the Croix de Guerre with Palm from Charles de Gaulle, the French President, and was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire by King George VI for his service overseas.

Vice Adm. Bellinger received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service as Commander Naval Air Forces Atlantic from Adm. Jonas Ingram, Commander-in-Chief Atlantic (Hampton Roads Naval Museum file)

After his first wife’s early death of pneumonia in 1920, Bellinger married Miriam Benoist, daughter of a well-known St. Louis banker and aircraft manufacturer. When Bellinger was away on assignments, Miriam and their four children spent their summers at the 170-acre estate of her friend Mary L. Frederick, near Covington, Virginia, called Earlehurst. When Mary died, she left the estate to Mirian. On December 1, 1947, Patrick Bellinger, after forty years of valiant service to his country, and especially to naval aviation, retired to Earlehurst and became a gentleman farmer.

In April 1955, the Navy honored Bellinger by having the two-mile long road from Gate 3 to Gate 4 at NAS Norfolk renamed from East Field Boulevard to Bellinger Boulevard. In retirement, he was known as an amusing, witty and intelligent conversationalist who often spoke to local retired officer groups and loved to tell “sea stories.” Even though he tried to maintain his good health, his high blood pressure contributed to several mild heart attacks. He finally succumbed on May 26, 1962. In 1981, he was chosen as one of the first twelve pioneer naval aviators to be admitted to the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.

Patrick Bellinger spent 25 of his 40 years of Naval service in Hampton Roads. He started as a midshipman on two of the battleships of the Great White Fleet, one of which was the first Wisconsin. He spent two and a half years on the dreadnaught South Carolina, served aboard a cruiser to observe torpedo operations, and commanded a submarine. He commanded the aircraft tender Wright and the Navy’s first aircraft carrier Langley, both of which were stationed in Norfolk. He was the first commanding officer of NAS Norfolk and served again in that assignment from 1938 to 1940 to help prepare the Naval Air Force for WWII. As COMNAVAIRLANT, from 1943 to 1947, Vice Admiral Bellinger expanded the usefulness of naval aviation to the fleet as an anti-submarine weapon that helped to win the war.

Vice Admiral Patrick N.L. Bellinger was not only the single most important leader in naval aviation in Hampton Roads during World War II, but he was also one of the most important Navy-wide.  (National Archives and Records Administration)

Because of his numerous contributions to the birth of Naval aviation and its place today as one of the most powerful arms of the fleet, Patrick Bellinger certainly deserves to be called a hero. As the father of Naval Aviation in Hampton Roads, he should be remembered each time we enter the gates of Naval Station Norfolk or Naval Air Station Oceana. 

Commander Ira "Dick" Hanna (USNR, Ret.), one of HRNM's longest-serving docents, holds a masters degree in history from Old Dominion University and a doctorate in education administration from The College of William and Mary. Among the many leadership posts he has held in the educational field, he has served as superintendent of Mathews County Public Schools and has taught as an adjunct professor of history and education administration at Old Dominion University. His father, Chief Yeoman Ralph Hanna, worked directly for P.N.L. Bellinger during his naval career.  This article also includes published research from Professor Palo E. Colleta, who Cmdr. Hanna studied under at the U.S. Naval Academy.