Exhibits & Collections

On March 29, 1926, a copy of The Zoom, the newspaper of Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, was disseminated among command personnel. Amid the routine articles that were of interest to sailors, namely a review of the boxing matches held as part of a recent “smoker” on board the carrier Langley (CV 1), appeared an article by Captain Joseph Mason Reeves, the commander of Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet. A grizzled veteran of gridiron battles at Annapolis and a veteran of the Spanish-American War, Reeves was known as “Billy Goat” because of the facial hair that sprouted from his chin. The nickname was also appropriate in the fact that Reeves was highly intelligent and obstinate, particularly in his belief in naval aviation. The past months witnessed the ships and aircraft under his command participating in Fleet Problem VI off the coast of Central America, providing for the first time practical demonstrations of naval aviation’s capabilities in conjunction with fleet operations, including air defense and bombardment of land targets in conjunction with battleships. “Naval aviation has been on trial during the past two months,” Reeves wrote. “The continuous, almost daily operation of naval aircraft throughout the cruise…has had a marked effect upon officers of all ranks in clearly demonstrating the place of naval aviation in naval warfare.”

It was indeed a step in the right direction for advocates of naval air power, but even Reeves understood that there were limitations. The sole aircraft carrier under his command, Langley, was a converted collier with limitations in the number of aircraft she could carry. In addition, her top cruising speed was below that of the fleet’s battleships, which cast her in a supporting role in operations as sea. Yet, change for the better was on the horizon for under construction at shipyards in Quincy, Massachusetts, and Camden, New Jersey, were two new aircraft carriers slated for commissioning in 1927. Converted from battle cruisers, LexingtonSaratoga (CV 3) dwarfed Langley in their 888 foot length and 33,000-ton displacement, their flight and hangar decks capable of carrying 100 aircraft. Notably, their electric drive engines allowed them to steam at more than 33 knots, more than double the top speed of Langley. In fact, in June 1928, Lexington would shatter speed records by transiting the waters between California and Hawaii in just over 72 hours!

Equipped with such platforms, Reeves could now advance naval aviation to the next level, and he chose as his arena Fleet Problem IX, which began in the waters off Panama in January 1929. As part of his planning for these naval exercises, Reeves conceived of a bold plan. As the Black Fleet to which Saratoga was assigned steamed to attack the Panama Canal, he proposed detaching the carrier and approaching the canal from a different direction under the cover of darkness to launch a dawn attack. With his plan approved by Commander, Battle Fleet Admiral William V. Pratt, Reeves (now a rear admiral) put to sea flying his flag in Saratoga and at the prescribed time detached from the main body of the Black Fleet with the escorting light cruiser Omaha (CL 4). Though spotted by enemy ships en route to her launch point, Saratoga pressed on, reaching her prescribed position in the early morning hours of January 26th. Meeting with his pilots, Reeves asked if they were ready, to which they responded in the affirmative, and he then exhorted them to beat the Blue Fleet, which included Saratoga’s sister ship, Lexington. The cheers from the aviators soon gave way to the sounding of flight quarters and the roar of engines as Saratoga launched her planes.

All told, 83 aircraft launched into the darkness that morning, arriving over the Panama Canal at first light to stage successful “attacks” on the canal’s locks and dogfight with defending Army Air Corps fighters. Though a handful of planes had to land ashore, all eventually returned to Saratoga, completing a momentous operation that foreshadowed the employment of the aircraft carrier during World War II in the size of the strike group and the employment of an independent, mobile carrier task force. Perhaps Admiral Henry A. Wiley, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet at the time, summed it up best, calling the attack “An Epic in the History of Aviation.”

Pictured at right is a portrait of Admiral Joseph M. Reeves that appeared on a TIME magazine cover in 1934 when he was Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and a view of planes packed on the flight deck of the carrier Saratoga (CV 3). The map showing the path of Saratoga leading up to the attack was drawn by Lieutenant (later Admiral) Austin K. Doyle, one of the pilots participating in the strike, and sent home in a letter to his wife.