A Sailor's Story: Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher



Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher was born on January 26, 1887, in Hillsboro, Wisconsin.

His parents relocated while he was young, and he grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Admiral Marc Mitscher's attended the US Military Academy at Annapolis but washed out his sophomore year after receiving poor grades and 159 demerits. Undeterred, he reapplied, beginning again as a first-year plebe and successfully graduating on June 3, 1910.

Admiral Mitscher served his two-year tour aboard the USS Colorado before moving to the USS California on the West coast and then earning a spot into the newly created naval aviation division in1915 on June 2, 1916, Admiral Marc Mitscher became Naval Aviator #33.

His first assignments as an aviator were aboard the USS North Carolina and the USS West Virginia for catapult experiments and the early development of launching planes from a ship. However, during this time and throughout most of World War I, aircraft were mainly used for scouting and spotting purposes, not combat. Then, in 1919, when the US Navy first attempted to cross the Atlantic, Admiral Marc Mitscher was one of the three aviators picked to make the attempt. Unfortunately, his plane, NC-1, had to be set down off the coast of the Azores after heavy fog caused the loss of a visible horizon.

Admiral Marc Mitscher was briefly assigned to the USS Aroostook and as the Commander of the Naval Air Station in Anacostia before being posted to the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. He began to prepare the documentation and evidence for the Morrow Board, which was established to create a National Aviation policy, including aircraft control, both civilian and military. Admiral Mitscher's work helped secure naval control over any sea-based aviation.

His work after the board focused almost exclusively on naval aviation systems and development, including serving as the assistant chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Admiral Marc Mitscher then received command of the newly created Yorktown class aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet. He was taking her through her initial training during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of World War II. Admiral Marc Mitscher was also the consultant behind General Jimmy Doolittle's idea to launch B52s from an aircraft carrier. Admiral Mitschner commanded the USS Hornet through the Doolittle Raid.

Admiral Mitschner also commanded the USS Hornet through the Battle of Midway before being moved to Guadalcanal as the Commander of the Air Solomon Islands (COMAIRSOLS). He was then assigned as the Commander of Task Force 58, which challenged the Marshall Islands, Truk, Satawan, and Ponape and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

After the war, he briefly commanded the 8th Fleet before being assigned, in 1946, as the Commander in Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet.

Admiral Marc Andrew Mitscher died of coronary thrombosis on February 3, 1947. He rests in Arlington National Cemetery.

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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, writer, and photographer currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to the travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

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