The 1st Provisional Air Brigade was a temporary unit of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

, commanded by Col.

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

, operating out of

Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perform ...

, Virginia, that was used in

Project B William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

to demonstrate the vulnerability of ships to aerial attack when, in July 1921, the "unsinkable" German dreadnought SMS ''Ostfriesland'' was sent to the bottom of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

by bombardment. Other targets included the German destroyer SMS G-102, the SMS ''Frankfurt'', and the USS ''Iowa''.

Formation

In the wake of the disarmament following the conclusion of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with the aviation branch of the U.S. Army drastically reduced in size, Col. Mitchell felt that the U.S. Navy's focus on building super

dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

s was a waste of defense money as he was convinced that warships were now vulnerable to air attack. He published articles and had testified before the House subcommittee on aviation "that 1,000 bomber aircraft could be built and operated for the cost of one dreadnought and that his airplanes could sink a battleship. He volunteered to demonstrate this if the navy would provide him with some battleships, which were already due to be demolished. The navy reluctantly agreed to the demonstrations." "Once the test was agreed to, Mitchell formed the First Provisional Air Brigade, drawing 150 airplanes and 1,000 people from air bases around the country. Because none of the pilots knew how to sink ships, extensive training was required at Langley Field in Virginia, where practice missions against mock ships were performed. Among the officers attending the practices was

Alexander de Seversky Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Проко́фьев-Се́верский) (June 7, 1894 – August 24, 1974) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, inventor, and inf ...

, who had served with Russia during the war, dropping bombs on German ships. He taught the pilots that the best way to sink a ship was to drop the bomb near, not on, the ship."

Tests

"The test, held off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay in July, 1921 attracted widespread public interest. There, after naval aircraft in June had easily disposed of a surfaced U-boat, Mitchell's First Provisional Air Brigade, hastily assembled and trained at Langley Field, attacked and sank three German ships -- a destroyer, the cruiser ''Frankfurt'', and the heavily compartmented ''Ostfriesland''. Disputes arose as to the manner in which the experiment -- directed by the Navy - had been conducted, and the Joint Board's report tended to deprecate the effectiveness of aerial bombing. But the fact of the sinkings was indisputable, and Mitchell went on to clinch the validity of his claims by tests conducted with like results on obsolete US Battleships -- the ''Alabama'' in September, 1921, and the ''Virginia'' and ''New Jersey'' in September, 1923."

Equipment

On 1 May 1921, Mitchell assembled the 1st Provisional Air Brigade, an air and ground crew of 125 aircraft and 1,000 men at

Langley, Virginia Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Langley is often used as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as it is home to its headquarters, the Geor ...

, using six squadrons from the Air Service: *Air Service Field Officers School,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, (

SE-5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

fighters) **50th Squadron (later 431st Bomb Squadron) **88th Squadron (later 436th Bomb Squadron) *1st Day Bombardment Group (later

2nd Bomb Group The 2nd Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command and the Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The wing is also the host unit at Barksdale. The wing wa ...

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

, Texas (SE-5 fighters,

Martin NBS-1 The Martin NBS-1 was a military aircraft of the United States Army Air Service and its successor, the Army Air Corps. An improved version of the Martin MB-1, a scout-bomber built during the final months of World War I, the NBS-1 was ordered ...

, Handley-Page O/400, and Caproni CA-5 bombers) ** 49th Squadron ** 96th Squadron *7th Observation Group (

Second Corps Area A Corps area was a geographically-based organizational structure (military district) of the United States Army used to accomplish administrative, training and tactical tasks from 1920 to 1942. Each corps area included divisions of the Regular Army ...

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

, New York ( DH-4 and

Douglas O-2 The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Development The important family of Douglas observation aircraft sprang from two XO-2 prototypes, the first of which was powered by the 420 hp ...

observation planes) ** 1st Squadron ** 5th Squadron

Handley Page O/400 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world. There were two main variants, the Handl ...

and

Martin MB-2 The Martin NBS-1 was a military aircraft of the United States Army Air Service and its successor, the United States Army Air Corps, Army Air Corps. An improved version of the Martin MB-1, a scout-bomber built during the final months of World ...

bombers of the 96th Squadron (Bombardment) did the heavy lifting, dropping bombs of between 230 lbs (100 kg) and 2,000 lbs (910 kg) over a two-day period on the captured German warship, rupturing her water-tightness and sinking her on 21 July off of

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shape ...

, North Carolina. Other types drawn for the unit included

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Air ...

s and at least one

Curtiss Eagle The Curtiss Eagle (retroactively designated the Model 19 by Curtiss some years later) was an airliner produced in small numbers in the United States shortly after World War I. The aircraft was a conventional biplane with three-bay, unstaggered wi ...

ambulance airplane. Following the sinking of USS ''Alabama'' on 26 September 1921, the 1st Provisional Air Brigade was disbanded. The bombing tests of 1923 were subsequently conducted with equipment and personnel of the

2d Bombardment Group 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *'' 002 Operazione Luna' ...

.Maurer Maurer, “Aviation in the U.S. Army, 1919-1939,” Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1987, Library of Congress card number 87-12257, , pages 124-126.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1921