David Sinton Ingalls (January 28, 1899 – April 26, 1985) was the US Navy's only flying ace of World War I, with six credited victories; thus he was the first ace in U. S. Navy history.

Early life

Ingalls was born on January 28, 1899, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He was the son of Albert S. Ingalls and Jane (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Taft) Ingalls (1874–1962). His mother was the niece of U.S. President William Howard Taft. David was the grandson of railroad executive Melville E. Ingalls. and the great-grandson of industrialist David Sinton, for whom he was named. Ingalls received his secondary education at the University School in Cleveland, and later attended St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. He entered Yale in 1916, where he studied as a medical student (he would eventually graduate in 1920 with a BA in English) and joined the

First Yale Unit The First Yale Unit was started by then Yale sophomore F. Trubee Davison in 1915. The First Yale Unit is considered to be the first naval air reserve unit. Davison and 11 other Yale students were fascinated with the possibilities of aviation in g ...

.O'Connor, M., p. 61. As such, Ingalls became a member of the Naval Reserve Flying Corps and by 1917 had obtained his pilot's license.

Military career

On March 26, 1917, Ingalls was enlisted as Naval Aviator No. 85. He was called to active duty on 4 April 1917, two days before the American entry into World War I. Before heading to Europe, Ingalls received aviation training at West Palm Beach in Florida. On June 3, he was sent to Huntington,

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

for more training. His training was completed on 1 September 1917, and he was made a lieutenant (junior grade). Ingalls arrived in Paris on September 12, 1917, and reported to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Operating in European waters in London on 10 December 1917 and was sent to the RFC training facility at RAF Gosport from December 13, 1917, until February 1918. From there, he went to the RFC Station in Ayr for squadron formation flying. On completion of this course, he was sent to Paris and arrived in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Clermont for a course in flying day bombing and gunnery. He arrived back in Dunkirk on July 2, where he was attached to 213 Squadron of the Royal Air Force.

Operational activity

Ingalls was attached to the British 213 Squadron and flew Sopwith Camels in attacks on German submarine bases. He was temporarily assigned to No. 218 Squadron RAF in July 1918 to gain experience flying bombers. Once back with 213 Squadron, Ingalls began tallying victories. On August 11, 1918, Ingalls and his flight leader, Colin Peter Brown, shot down a German observation plane behind enemy lines. Two days later, he was involved in a surprise attack on a German aerodrome, which destroyed thirty-eight planes. On 21 August, Ingalls shared a win over an

LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. (L.V.G. or LVG) was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin- Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bombe ...

two-seater with Brown and fellow ace George Stacey Hodson. On September 15, he destroyed a Rumpler in company with fellow ace Harry Smith. Three days later, he teamed with Smith and Hodson to become a

balloon buster Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness, as balloons were stationary targets able to receive heavy defenses, from the ground and the air. Seventy-seven fl ...

. Two days after that, Ingalls lost his engine and knew he had to crash land. As he was descending, he saw a woman sitting in a field smoking a pipe. He had never seen a woman smoking a pipe, so he tried to land in that field. Then his engine kicked back in and he was able to fly again. But by now he was well behind enemy lines. As a result, he was able to come at the Germans from behind and destroy a Fokker D.VII to become an ace. On a later attack on a German aerodrome, Ingalls destroyed more planes. On his way back to base on September 24, 1918, he spotted a German observation plane, which he and Hodson shot down. His last flight of the war came on October 3, 1918. The following day, he headed home and was awarded the

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritoriou ...

for exceptionally and meritorious Service as chase pilot operating with No. 213 Squadron RAF while attached to the Northern Bombing Group. Ingalls was also decorated by Great Britain with the Distinguished Flying Cross and by France with the Legion of Honour. On 1 January 1919, he was also

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

by the British. He was released from the military on January 2, 1919.

Post-war

Ingalls returned to Yale and received an LLD from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1923. After graduating, he joined Squire, Sanders & Dempsey as an associate. In 1926, he was elected to the

Ohio General Assembly The Ohio General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio. It consists of the 99-member Ohio House of Representatives and the 33-member Ohio Senate. Both houses of the General Assembly meet at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus ...

, where he co-sponsored the Ohio Aviation Code. Ingalls also served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1927 to 1929. He was a good friend of

Jack Towers Jack Towers (November 15, 1914 – December 23, 2010Matt Schudel.. ''Washington Post''. 28 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.) was in charge of radio broadcasting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1952 to 1974 and became a noted r ...

, who recommended Ingalls for the job of

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) was a civilian office of the United States Department of the Navy. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) initially reported to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and later to the Under Secretary of the ...

. He asked Newton Baker, a friend of his father to recommend him to Herbert Hoover. He got the job in early 1929. He became a good friend of Hoover, who invited him to the White House and to his camp. Fellow Skull and Bones member F. Trubee Davison would often accompany them. On his way home in his plane from Washington in June 1929, Ingalls crashed his plane into a fence, but was unharmed. As Assistant Secretary, he tripled the number of naval aircraft and pushed for a fully deployable carrier task force. In 1932, he embarked on an unsuccessful campaign to become

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. He left in 1933 to become director of Cleveland's Department of Public Health and Welfare. In the mid-1930s, Ingalls was appointed a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves. He was made vice president and general manager of Pan Am Air Ferries in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, he helped develop the Naval Air Station at Honolulu, and ended up reporting for duty. In 1943, he became Chief of Staff for the Forward Area Air Center Command and later Commander of the Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station. On his return to Ohio, he became a director of Pan Am World Airways and managed Robert A. Taft's campaign to be the Republican nominee for president in 1952. In 1954, he became president and publisher of the ''

Cincinnati Times-Star ''The Cincinnati Times-Star'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1880 to 1958. The Northern Kentucky edition was known as ''The Kentucky Times-Star'', and a Sunday edition was known as ''The Sunday Times- ...

'' and Vice Chairman of the now defunct Taft Broadcasting Company. He left the ''Cincinnati Times-Star'' in 1958 to practice law. Ingalls was a friend of the aviator Charles Lindbergh, whom he helped solve navigation and communication problems in charting new air routes to the east for Pan Am. He was a director of the Cleveland Trust Company, director of South Eleuthera Properties, Vice President of Virginia Hot Springs, Inc., President of the Central Eyebank for Sight Restoration, trustee of Laurel School and an honorary trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association.

Personal life

He was married to Louise Hale Harkness (1898–1978), daughter of William L. Harkness and granddaughter of Daniel M. Harkness, who was instrumental in the formation of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Edith Ingalls (1923–2005), who married Dr. Paul Joseph Vignos Jr. (1919–2010), and became a prominent art collector. * Louise Ingalls (1928–1998), who married Willard Walker Brown. * David Sinton Ingalls Jr. (1934–1993), who became president of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and mayor of

Hunting Valley, Ohio Hunting Valley is a village in Cuyahoga and Geauga counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, and an eastern suburb of the Greater Cleveland area. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 707. At the 2000 census, it was ranked the 6th hig ...

. Ingalls was a member of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

, Chagrin Valley Hunt Club,

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, Jekyll Island Club, Kirtland Country Club, Pepper Pike Club of Pepper Pike, Queen City Club of Cincinnati, River Club of New York, Skull and Bones and the Union Club of Cleveland. Ingalls was a sportsman and a co-owner of two quail plantations:

Ring Oak Plantation Ring Oak Plantation is a large quail hunting plantation located in northeast Leon County, Florida. Origins Ring Oak originally was the land of antebellum cotton plantations Blakely Plantation and Ingleside Plantation. Prior to it having a n ...

and

Foshalee Plantation Foshalee Plantation was a large quail hunting plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States. History First called Incochee, it was purchased in 1824 by Hezekiah and Ann Graham Ponder. Hezekiah and Ann are buried in a cemeter ...

, which he shared with

Robert Livingston Ireland Jr. Robert Livingston Ireland Jr. (February 1, 1895 – April 21, 1981), nicknamed "Liv", was an American businessman, philanthropist, plantation owner, quail hunter, and yachtsman from Cleveland, Ohio. Early life Ireland was born in Cleveland, Ohio ...

Legacy

The Ingalls Hockey Rink at Yale University is named after David Ingalls as well as his son, David S. Ingalls Jr. The Ingalls family were the primary benefactors of the rink. Ingalls Rink interior horizontal

In 2003, the Ingalls Foundation endowed the Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Curator of European Painting and Sculpture at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Citations

Bibliography

* ''Airfields & Airmen of the Channel Coast: Battleground I Battleground Europe Series". Mike O'Connor, Michael O'Connor. Pen & Sword Books, 2006. , . * * ''American Aces of World War I.'' Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. , . * ''From Cotton To Quail: An Agricultural Chronicle of Leon County, Florida, 1860–1967'', Paisley, Clifton. University of Florida Press, 1968.

External links

David Ingalls – the First US Navy AceDavid Sinton Ingalls – Military Strategist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingalls, David Sinton 1899 births 1985 deaths American World War I flying aces United States Navy personnel of World War I Aviators from Ohio Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Taft family United States Naval Aviators Yale University alumni Politicians from Cleveland Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Military personnel from Cleveland United States Navy rear admirals (upper half) United States Assistant Secretaries of the Navy 20th-century American politicians Harkness family Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey players