Henry C . Mustin Henry Croskey Mustin ( 6 February 1874 – 23 August 1923 ) was a pioneering naval aviator who undertook the auspicious task of establishing the first Naval Aeronautic Station ( now Naval Air Station Pensacola ) on the site of the abandoned Navy Yard at Warrington , Florida in 1914 . He was designated Navy Air Pilot No . 3 and later Naval Aviator No . 11 . Early life and career . Born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 6 February 1874 , Mustin graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1896 . He spent the two years at sea , as required by law , before he was commissioned an ensign in 1898 . From then , until he reported to duty in aviation 15 years later , he distinguished himself as a remarkably capable officer in the surface navy . After receiving his commission , Mustin served during the next 18 months on board six different ships . From October 1899 to March 1900 , he served as commanding officer of , a gunboat on the Asiatic Station . While commanding " Samar " , during the capture of Vigan in the Philippine Islands , Mustin won a commendation for towing the boats of the battleship to shore and aiding in covering the landing . After a night of carousing in May 1900 , Mustin was court - martialed for leaving his station and sleeping on watch , resulting in the loss of five numbers in grade . The court martial reconvened to pardon him , and he eventually had his numbers restored by President Theodore Roosevelt , who heard that Mustin had punched a British sailor for insulting the U . S . Navy during the night in question . Mustin was also interested in the technical aspects of ordnance and helped develop a telescopic sight that would aid in increasing the accuracy and range of naval gun fire . He made his first flight while on duty at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . In January 1911 , he aided Holden C . Richardson in an experiment with a glider , which Richardson designed and built . Mustin soloed on 13 March 1913 . Naval Aeronautic Station . In 1913 , plans for a national naval air service were taking shape , and Pensacola , Florida , was chosen over Annapolis , Maryland , as the site of a training facility , as the warmer weather along the United States Gulf Coast would be better for year - round flying . On 31 December 1913 , Mustin reported for duty as executive officer of , a battleship being sent to Pensacola Bay for training purposes . On 6 January 1913 , under a new ranking system for officers , Mustin was designated Navy Air Pilot No . 3 ( after Theodore G . Ellyson and John H . Towers ) . A detachment of nine officers and about two dozen enlisted men arrived at Pensacola on 20 January and began to establish the new school . It was operational by February . Mustin and his wife and two sons , Lloyd and Henry , moved into Quarters A on the station . Following the Tampico Affair on 9 April 1914 , the United States sent a squadron of warships to Veracruz , Mexico . After first sending three planes to Veracruz aboard the light cruiser , Lieutenant Commander Mustin took temporary command of " Mississippi " as her acting captain and led a second aviation detachment , along with 500 United States Marines , aboard her to the campaign . They arrived at Veracruz on the evening of 24 April 1914 . The United States occupation of Veracruz marked the first operational use of naval aircraft . " Mississippi " began her voyage back to Pensacola on 12 June 1914 to make repairs to the aircraft which had seen continued use without means of maintenance . In July 1914 , Mustin took " Mississippi " to Norfolk , Virginia , to be sold to Greece . Mustin was named commandant of the Naval Aeronautic Station in April 1915 . With US $ 1 million in funding for the year , the station conducted antisubmarine patrols , worked on the development of a new bombsight and a gyroscopic sextant , and saw the arrival of ten new students in July 1915 . A new station ship , the armored cruiser , arrived in Pensacola on 9 September 1915 . On 5 November 1915 , Mustin launched himself from " North Carolina " via catapult in a Curtiss Model AB - 2 , recording the worlds first catapulting of an aircraft from a ship underway . Mustin was outspoken about the potential of naval aviation , despite conclusions by officials that " aeronautics does not offer a prospect of becoming the principal means of exercising compelling force against the enemy . " He lobbied to halt funding of dirigible projects and focus development on high - speed fighter aircraft . He and fellow naval aviator Kenneth Whiting worked together on seaplane designs and filed a patent application for the design of a " hydroaeroplane " on 27 October 1916 . However , the hurricane that struck Pensacola on 18 October 1916 caused more than $ 1 million in damage to the base , and Mustin faced accusations that his " wrong flying instruction methods " had caused the deaths of two naval aviators , Lieutenants , junior grade , Richard C . Saufley and James V . Rockwell – developments that greatly dampened plans for the Aeronautic Station . He was detached home from Pensacola on 30 January 1917 , and his naval aviator designation revoked on 31 January . Later career . On 15 January 1918 , Mustin , then executive officer of the battleship , saved the life of a sailor who was washed overboard , earning him the Gold Life Saving Medal . However , the effort took a heavy toll on his health , from which he never entirely recovered . Mustin began development of a " sea sled " carrier vessel that year , conducting tests from November 1918 to March 1919 . The armistice with Germany and end of World War I on 11 November 1918 ended Mustins sea sled development , although it would be revived during World War II and praised for its ingenuity . In December 1919 , Commander Mustin assumed command of the minelayer with additional duty as commander of the Fleet Air Detachment , Pacific Fleet . While in command of the Fleet Air Detachment , later designated the Aircraft Squadrons , Pacific Fleet , Mustin led a flight of a dozen airplanes on a record breaking 3 , 019 mile flight from San Diego , California , to Balboa , Panama . Mustin was ordered to report to the United States Department of the Navy for duty as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics in late October 1921 , reporting for duty there on 6 November 1921 . He was promoted to Captain on 1 January 1922 . Death . Captain Mustin was admitted to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda , Maryland , in January 1923 suffering from chest pain . After a protracted illness lasting several months , he died at Newport , Rhode Island , on 23 August 1923 . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . Commemoration . Two U . S . Navy ships , the destroyer and the guided - missile destroyer , have been named for Mustin . At Naval Air Station Pensacola – the former Naval Aeronautic Station – Mustin Beach is named for him and the Mustin Beach Officers Club indirectly bears his name . Also named for Mustin was the Henry C . Mustin Naval Air Facility , which operated at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 1926 to 1963 . Mustin was inducted into the Naval Aviation Hall of Honor at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola in 1990 .