Doctrinal Innovation in the Royal Naval Air Service: Samson, Longmore, and Williamson

摘要

During its brief existence, Britain's Royal Naval Air Service teemed with pioneer aviators who sought out the best roles for aviation in support of naval operations. In an age when minimal historical experience was available for air organizations to develop doctrine, three men in particular improvised naval air employment concepts while under actual combat conditions of the First World War. At a time when many who served worked to improve the capabilities of Britain's new naval air arm, Charles Rumney Samson (1883-1931), Arthur Murray Longmore (1885-1970), and Hugh Alexander Williamson (1885-1979) employed innovative methods for aircraft, providing leadership during the Great War that transformed Britain's naval air arm out of its early experimental stage into a combat arm of significant value.