Bossier’s almost-native son Samuel J. “Sam” Zeigler Jr.’s extraordinary naval career allowed him to be at the helm for critical developments in the now-200-year-old military service. In last week’s part I, Samuel J. Zeigler, Jr., “Sea,” we followed him from north Bossier Parish and Shreveport to LSU and the United States Naval Academy where he was among the top graduates in 1912. We saw him next complete graduate training and serve as a naval architect and engineer plus gain a graduate business degree at Harvard. He served in leadership posts in stateside shipyards in the midst of the transition to steel-hulled ships, and during WWI, he served overseas in Brest, France.
In late 1921, Zeigler’s focus turned to aviation, when he was sent to the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, in the same basic location as the shipyard where he’d served. In late 1925, he was sent to the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department in Washington DC as its third-highest ranking official, according to the editor of the Bossier Banner-Progress. The establishment of this bureau in 1921 is considered by naval aviation historian Barrett Tillman as first on his list of the most pivotal events in US naval aviation history.
When the 1920’s began, aviation had barely had even a chance to prove itself to be practical under at-sea operating conditions. By the end of that decade, however, under the new Bureau of Aeronautics, patrol squadrons and seaplane tenders were performing escorting functions, aircraft were assigned to battleships and cruisers and proving themselves in maneuvers (fleet wars), and three aircraft carriers were fully operational. The first of these carriers was the experimental USS Langley (CV 1). The next two were the first combat-capable carriers, the USS Lexington and the USS Saratoga, and Sam J. Zeigler Jr. had served as a commander on both of them, prior to WWII.
Of course, any rapid growth tends to be accompanied by growing pains, and this decade of rapid development of aircraft, aircraft carriers, naval aviators and new administrative divisions happened along with much push and pull between service branches, public and private sectors, politicians, the press and public opinion. To try to sort it out, President Calvin Coolidge convened the President’s Aircraft Board, also known as the Morrow Board, to make recommendations regarding the aviation industry and military aviation and to guide legislative measures. Board members listened to testimony from numerous camps, but vowed that half or more of it came from “flyers” themselves. At the end of November 1925, the Morrow Board submitted a report to President Coolidge, which was followed by another aviation report of the Lampert Aircraft Committee.
The reports got copious amounts of coverage in the American press, and Lt. Commander Zeigler, while conceding that all publicity has at least a chance at being good publicity, particularly for such a nascent program, was not pleased with the impressions being fed to the general public about naval aviation. He lamented that it left the impression that” the Navy is at sea in the air.” He wrote in an article titled “The Naval Aircraft Factory” in the January 1926 Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute that “an account of the Naval Aircraft Factory, its purpose, origin, and accomplishments,” may help refute that charge.
The Naval Aircraft Factory began in 1917 to solve the aircraft supply problem that faced the Navy Department when the US entered WWI. The private sector could barely meet the much larger requirements for aeronautical material of the Army’s Air Corps, and therefore had little use for business with the new Navy division. The Navy Department, decided that it was necessary to build an aircraft factory of its own. Zeigler pointed out that “The Naval Aircraft Factory is, in reality, a vast experimental station. Its purpose, as clearly set forth by the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, is the ‘development and manufacture of experimental aircraft and aircraft accessories…” He argued that at no point does this purpose make it a competitor of civilian aeronautic plants.
Sam Zeigler Jr, ultimately did three tours of duty at the Naval Aircraft Factory, interspersed with positions as Engineer Officer for Aircraft (as a Commander in the Carrier Division ONE, US Fleet), and General Inspector of Naval Aircraft out of San Diego. He became Manager of the Naval Aircraft Factory in August 1943, when he was also designated Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Material Center in Philadelphia. The following year, Zeigler became the Bureau of Aeronautics Representative at Philadelphia and received a Commendation Ribbon from the Secretary of the Navy that praised Zeigler’s direction and inspection abilities with the effect that products of the aircraft plants “gave extraordinary and reliable performance during the war.” He stayed in Philadelphia until his retirement in 1947.
Zeigler continued to make trips to Shreveport and the Plain Dealing area for visits every now and then, since he always considered it home. The proud local newspapers reported on many of these visits. Sam Zeigler Jr. and his wife Fannie Marburg Zeigler had two sons, both of whom also joined the US Navy. Zeigler passed away on October 24, 1975.
If you have World War I or II (or beyond) family photos or stories to share, please visit or contact us at the History Center. We will scan them and return the originals if that is your preference. Don’t forget about our World War Tuesday coffee and discussion group on a variety of World War II topics held the second Tuesday of each month from 10:30 – noon. The next meeting will be on Tues. January 13th. We are located at 7204 Hutchison Drive, Bossier City, LA, 71111. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org
For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.
Images:
- Portrait of Samuel J. Zeigler, Jr. Modern Biographical Files in the Navy Department Library, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, DC.
- Aerial view of the U.S. Navy Naval Aircraft Factory at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). Note: the flying boat in front of the hangar on the right seems to be a Consolidated P2Y which would date this photo in the 1930s. U.S. Department of the Navy. Bureau of Aeronautics photo, National Archives and Records Administration.
- U.S. Navy N3N trainers awaiting engines and other parts at Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), 28 June 1937. U.S. Department of the Navy photo, National Archives and Records Administration.
- Navy 250 logo, “Learn About Naval History in your State.”
No comments:
Post a Comment