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794:, by Proclamation 5473, declared May 8, 1986 "Naval Aviation Day", stating in part, "May 8 marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of naval aviation in the United States. On that day in 1911, Captain Washington Irving Chambers prepared the requisition for the first aircraft for the United States Navy, thereby initiating a long and glorious tradition. Since that date, naval aviation has played an essential role in our national defense, both in peace and war. Naval aviation also has played a vital role in the development of space exploration and aviation technology. . . . "
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639:, although he remained on active duty. On January 8, 1914, he was detached from Bureau of Navigation, and to the Division of Operations, Navy Department, for special duty. During this period of service, recommendations to the Navy Department caused the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations to be set up (1915) and Captain Chambers continued to serve under the first Chief throughout the World War, and until relieved of active duty on November 8, 1919.
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699:(sloop of war) as well as at the U.S. Naval War College, New York Naval Shipyard, United States Naval Torpedo Station (Newport, R.I), and U.S. Navy Department offices including the Bureau of Ordinance and the Bureau of Navigation. Subjects include the development and application of aviation to naval forces, flight science and procedures, balloons, dirigibles, helicopters, parachutes, ordnance, and ship construction. Correspondents include
691:. The "Washington Irving Chambers papers" consist of 12,000 documents in 48 containers occupying 12 linear feet. They encompass correspondence, memoranda, logbooks, subject files, printed matter, blueprints, photographs, and other papers relating to Chambers's service in the U.S. Navy and with the Greely Relief Expedition to the Arctic in 1884 and the Nicaragua Canal survey expedition of 1884–1885. Documents include his service aboard USS
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490:, for a special mission to conduct a highly secret survey of 33 South Pacific islands to identify potential sites for refueling bases for military use and for post-World War II commercial flights. Byrd had been recalled to active duty on March 26, 1942, and served as the confidential advisor to Admiral
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and the Navy's first all-big-gun battleships, cementing his reputation as one of the Navy's leading intellects and technology innovators, as well as a savvy navigator of the Navy's labyrinthine bureaucracy, which put him in good stead to advocate for naval air against early skepticism and resistance.
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On
December 3, 1892, Chambers married Isabella Reynolds (1863–1945) at Kingston, NY. They had one child, Irving Reynolds Chambers (1893-1979), who was also a career naval officer. Following Captain Chambers's retirement from active duty in the Navy, he and his wife resided in Washington, D.C. At the
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and on the South
Pacific Island Base Inspection Board. A large explosion at sea on October 7, 1943, took the lives of 24 Concord crewmen, including the executive officer, Commander Rogers Elliott. Caused by ignition of gasoline fumes at the stern of the ship, the explosion threw some men overboard,
507:, to Chambers, as the ship's commanding officer, commending him and his crew "for the courage and efficiency" displayed following the explosion that made Byrd "feel proud to be an American. Great heroism was displayed, especially by the men who lost their lives rescuing the wounded."
261:; established aviator training; oversaw the first budget appropriation of $ 25,000 from which he purchased the first aircraft for the Navy; designed a catapult to launch aircraft from warships and led a Board that recommended establishment of the first
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at
Washington, D.C. The collection is known as the "Washington Irving Chambers Collection" and consists of several hundred images of early naval aviation from the years 1911 to 1913, with specific emphasis on first test flights of the
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while others were killed from concussion, burns, fractured skulls, and broken necks. Several sailors died while trying to save their shipmates. The dead were buried at sea on
October 8. On October 23, 1943, Byrd wrote a letter from
445:, he was cleared of any culpability for the accident, which claimed two sailors' lives. The submarine was refloated two weeks later, on October 13, and returned to service until its decommissioning 24-years later in October 1945.
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Irving
Chambers was given the nickname "Skipper" by his father and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1915. He served 31 years in the Navy, attaining the rank of captain. Irving Chambers qualified as a submarine officer, and as a
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On
January 8, 1914, he was detached from Bureau of Navigation, and to the Division of Operations, Navy Department, for special duty. During this period of service, recommendations to the Navy Department caused the Office of the
779:, the Navy's first flying boat at Hammondsport; testing of the A-1 at Annapolis; launching of the C-2 flying boat in Pensacola; modifications of the A-1 and A-2 Hydro OWL; the Curtiss twin-engine flying boat, the
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393:. He completed the four year academic course in June 1876 when he was 20 years old and graduated as a Passed Midshipman, required to spend two years at sea before commissioning as an ensign.
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in 1856, the only child of a boot maker, Jacob
Chambers (1812-1882), and his wife, Margaret Ann (nee Ayres) (1817-1903), both native New Yorkers. Through his father, he was a descendant of
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due to a malfunctioning torpedo tube door on
September 26 that year. Chambers, an excellent swimmer, remained in the water to assist some of his men who were struggling. Following a
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at
Pensacola, Florida and advocated for the establishment of a "national aerodynamic laboratory". Chambers has been called "the Father of Naval Aviation".
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Irving
Reynolds Chambers, then a Navy commander, in the late 1930s donated his father's extensive original photo collection of United States
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on June 22, 1884. Over the next twenty-five years, in shore duty that alternated with his sea duty, to include teaching at the
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Captain Chambers was involuntarily placed on the "retired list" in late 1913, making him ineligible for promotion to
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From Torpedoes to Aviation: Washington Irving Chambers & Technological Innovation in the New Navy 1876 to 1913
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Washington Irving Chambers: Innovation, Professionalization, and The New Navy, 1872-1919 dissertation abstract
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from July 13, 1942 to December 16, 1943. From August 27 to December 5, 1943, famed polar explorer and retired
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officer, who near the end of his service played a major role in the early development of U.S.
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Washington Irving Chambers: Innovation, Professionalization, and the New Navy, 1872-1913
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was placed in service on February 23, 2011, with Captain Mike Flanagan, commanding.
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to be set up (1915) and Captain Chambers continued to serve under the first Chief,
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bluejacket.com U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Historic Air Fields Post World War I
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Washington, D.C: Naval Historical Center, Dept. of the Navy, 4th edition
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In June 1871, Washington Chambers was appointed a cadet midshipman to the
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A Brief History of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers - Part I: The Early Years
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Promoted to captain in 1940, Irving Chambers's last sea command was the
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at Norfolk, Virginia, dedicated in June 1938, was named in his honor.
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233:, USN (April 4, 1856 – September 23, 1934) was a 43-year, career
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The Records of Living Officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps
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849:. New York, New York: L. R. Hamersly & Company. p. 190
680:, was christened and launched, sponsored by Mrs. Loretta Penn.
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400:. After graduating, he remained on staff until November 1893.
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In November 1892, Chambers was sent to study and teach at the
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would be named for Captain Chambers. On September 11, 2010,
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American military personnel of the Philippine–American War
873:. The United States Naval War College. 1977. pp. 3–4
413:, he was returning by train to Washington from a trip to
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United States Navy personnel of the Spanish–American War
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United States Naval Academy Midshipman – Class of 1876
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to Captain Irving R. Chambers, Commanding Officer, USS
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CAPT Irving Reynolds Chambers, USN (1893-1979), (son)
437:, he was the last man off the boat when it sank at
325:(1907-09), Chambers contributed to the design of
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923:- From the Chief of Naval Information, U.S. Navy
409:time of his death on September 23, 1934, in
305:, an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between
998:United States Navy personnel of World War I
823:, Ph.D. diss: Ohio State University, 1999.
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968:Military personnel from New York (state)
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687:Many of his papers are held by the U.S.
664:announced that the eleventh ship of the
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814:United States Naval Aviation 1910-1995.
346:Washington Irving Chambers was born in
1008:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
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893:"Washington Irving Chambers Genealogy"
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391:New York's 13th congressional district
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809:(University of Alabama Press, 2007)
760:Office of Naval Records and Library
293:and the six other survivors of the
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963:United States Naval Academy alumni
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206:Philippines – Moro Rebellion
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313:'s northernmost island,
111:United States of America
713:Theodore Gordon Ellyson
773:Hammondsport, New York
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657:On December 2, 2008,
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281:Winfield Scott Schley
134:Years of service
535:Lieutenant Commander
243:Bureau of Navigation
202:Spanish–American War
765:A-1, A-2, & A-3
705:W. Starling Burgess
689:Library of Congress
682:Washington Chambers
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387:Annapolis, Maryland
356:New Paltz, New York
805:Stein, Stephen K.
615:November 30, 1878
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128:United States Navy
73:September 23, 1934
63:Kingston, New York
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769:Keuka Lake
717:Eugene Ely
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99:Allegiance
56:1856-04-04
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693:Pensacola
668:class of
540:Commander
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469:USS
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327:torpedoes
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307:Greenland
285:U.S. Army
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220:Relations
189:Louisiana
187:USS
179:USS
173:Nashville
171:USS
163:USS
137:1876–1919
358:and the
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117:Service/
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758:to the
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181:Florida
151:Captain
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70:Died
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