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Naval Air Station Porto Corsini- Remembrance Plaque

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Details:

Hanging on a wall at the base of the lighthouse (Faro di Marina di Ravenna) next to a plaque commemorating Italian war dead during World War II.

Plaque

A plaque about 3 ft by 4ft celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Establishment of Naval Air Station (NAS) Porto Corsini. 

 

NAS Porto Corsini was established on July 24, 1918 after US Naval Airmen completed their Italian provided seaplane training at Lago Bolseno (in Central, Italy). NAS Porto Corsini consisted of about 400 US personnel under the command of Lieutenant Willis B. Haviland, flying Italian Macchi M5 Seaplanes based in the northern Adriatic Sea- strategically located near Venice and just 100 kilometers from the Austro-Hungarian coast. NAS Porto Corsini Seaplanes, bearing the symbol of a “Winged Goat”, flew 745 mission sorties in just 100 days of action during the First World War.  On the first day of the NAS Porto Corsini operation, the Austro-Hungarians bombed the base; fortunately, there was very limited damage. Most of the missions included Adriatic Sea lane patrols and bombing runs of the Austro-Hungarian port at Pola (present day Pula in Croatia) on the Istrian peninsula. Five NAS Porto Corsini seaplanes participated in a large 30-plane bombing raid of this most important Austrian naval base on October 22, 1918.  

 

Per the Naval History and Heritage Command, NAS Porto Corsini also provided some important “firsts” in US Naval Aviation History:  the first aerial combat and the first Naval Aviator to receive the Medal of Honor in the US (or equivalent from any country). 

 

On August 21, 1918, Five NAS Porto Corsini Macchi M5 seaplanes escorted two Italian M8 bombers on a leaflet dropping mission to Pola.  The formation was attacked by five land based Austro-Hungarian Albatross fighters.  During the dogfight, Ensign George Ludlow (Naval Aviator # 342) was shot down and landed in the Adriatic about 3 miles from Pola.  Ensign Charles Hazeltine “Haze” Hammann (Naval Aviator # 1494) then enlisted pilot Hammann, landed his plane next to Ludlow, retrieved him, and despite the plane designed to carry just 1 person, Hammann successfully returned to Porto Corsini avoiding enemy fighters.  Hammann would be awarded the Medal of Honor and the Italian Silver Medal for this action.  Ludlow, the Navy Cross.  Hammann was promoted to Ensign in October 1918 but would unfortunately die in a M5 crash in Langley Virginia in June 1919.

 

(On a side note, the only actual surface action that U.S. Navy forces participated in during World War I was known as the Second Battle of Durazzo—present-day Durres, Albania—also in the Adriatic on 2 October 1918. Twelve U.S. Navy submarine chasers under the command of Captain Charles P. Nelson, USN, participated in a combined Italian, British, and Australian naval force against ships, submarines, and shore batteries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire near the port of Durazzo.)



The last mission NAS Porto Corsini flew was on November 2, 1918.

 

Five Naval Aviation personnel died during the NAS operation and are remembered on the plaque.  They include:

 

Ensign JAMES L. GOGGINS an expert pilot and instructor died when his Macchi M5 seaplane crashed during a training flight on August 11, 1918.

 

-Ensign LOUIS J. BERGEN and Gunner THOMAS L. MURPHY were killed when their Macchi M8 plane malfunctioned and crashed during radio testing on September 15, 1918                   

 

-Coppersmith GEORGE E. KILLIAN died as a result of burns received in a gas torch explosion on September 18, 1918.

 

-Ensign Pilot EDWARD I. TINKHAM (Naval Aviator # 1498) died after contracting pneumonia or the Spanish Flu on March 30, 1919.  Tinkham flew numerous missions and previously had served in France with the American Field Service before US entry into the war. 

 

 

Special thanks to Mauro Antonellini for his assistance with this site (http://www.mauroantonellini.com)

Monument Text:

Most of the text is in English.  It reads under crossed US/Italian flags:

 

CENTENARY OF U.S. NAVAL AIR STATION 

PORTO CORSINI

1918-2018

 

IN MEMORY OF

 

JAMES L. GOGGINS         +          AUGUST 11, 1918

LOUIS J. BERGEN             +          SEPTEMBER 15, 1918

THOMAS L. MURPHY        +          SEPTEMBER 15, 1918

GEORGE E. KILLEEN       +          SEPTEMBER 18, 1918

EDWARD I. TINKHAM       +          MARCH 30, 1919

 

JULY 24, 2018

 

 

PRO LOCO MARINA DI RAVENNA

ASSOCIAZIONE AMERICANI A PORTO CORSINI

 

(Translation:  Local Port of Ravenna Association and the American Association of Porto Corsini)

Commemorates:

People:

Louis Joseph Bergen

James Lawrence Goggins

Charles Hazeltine “Haze” Hammann

Willis Bradley Haviland

George Emmett Killeen

Thomas L Murphy

Edward Isley Tinkham

Units:

Naval Air Station (NAS) Porto Corsini

Naval Aviation

United States Navy

Wars:

WWI

Other images :