Kenneth Whiting

Kenneth Whiting (1881 to 1943) was a United States Navy officer, a pioneer in submarines and best known as a pioneering naval aviator. Born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1905, commanded early submarines and in 1909 escaped from the submarine Porpoise through a torpedo tube as an experiment. He learned to fly from Orville Wright and was designated Naval Aviator No. 16 in 1914, then led the Naval Aeronautic Station at Pensacola. In 1917 he commanded the first American military unit to arrive in Europe for combat, and later took charge of air stations at Killingholme, England. For his service he received the Navy Cross and was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. Between the wars he helped build five of the first six American aircraft carriers, was executive officer of the first two, and is sometimes called the Navy's father of the aircraft carrier.