ABSTRACT
Admiral. He was a pioneer in naval aviation, leading in its development from inception to full maturity in WW2.
A member of the USNA class of 1906, Towers’s initial assignments were in battleships, including a global circumnavigation as part of the ‘Great White Fleet’, 190709. In 1911, with instruction from Glenn CURTISS, he became US Naval Aviator no. 3. He established the Navy’s first aviation facility near Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1911, and in 1913 he commanded the first aviation unit involved in US fleet training manoeuvres. During WW1 he was assistant naval attaché in London and subsequently he continued to lead in the accelerating development of naval aviation, commanding a variety of units and ships. From 1931 to 1933 and 1936 to 1937 he was CoS to the commanders of the aircraft carriers of the Navy’s Battle Force. Between those tours he was assigned to the US Naval War College and the Naval Torpedo Station. He commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, 1937-38, and was Assistant Chief, Bureau of Aeronautics, 1938-39.
