Sutton, Frank, RDML

Best Moment
He was one of the earliest flyers in Naval Aviation.

Frank Sutton landed once at Tucson, Monday, August 19, 1929. He flew an unidentified Boeing F2B. Based at San Diego, CA aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga, he arrived amidst nineteen other naval aviators, each signed into the Register on the middle third of page 112. Other than the first six who signed their own names, the rest were entered by an unknown hand all at once. Please direct your browser to the link and review page 112. There you'll see that signers Chourre through Wick comprise the group of twenty. They all remained overnight at Tucson, departing the morning of the 20th for El Paso, TX.

What were twenty Navy pilots doing at Tucson all at once? They were on a grand cross-country flight headed from San Diego to Cleveland, OH and back to participate in the National Air Races (NAR) held August 24th-September 2nd at Cleveland that year. Lt. Cdr. Homer Wick was commanding officer of Squadron No. 1 based on the Saratoga.

Wick brought his entire squadron through Tucson on behalf of the NAR. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Navy ordered numerous activities by its personnel, ships and airplanes to build confidence in the naval force among the U.S. citizenry, to provide real-life training for personnel, as well as to encourage recruitment.

Sutton's job in the group was as section leader for the aerobatic team named the "Nine High Hats." Below, Sutton is circled and shown with the rest of his section (the two officers immediately behind him) and the entire 9-man team just three days before he landed at Tucson. Sutton also participated in event No. 21 of the NAR, the Navy Pursuit Race. It took place on August 30th and covered 100 miles in ten, 10-mile laps. According to the Aircraft Yearbook for 1930, sixteen navy pilots competed. Sutton placed third with an average speed of 126.5MPH. Please direct your browser to Wick's page to see a tabulation and identification of all the men in his squadron.

He was in Carrier Division One

CARRIER DIVISION ONE
Rear Admiral William F. Halsey

SARATOGA (CV-3) (F)
Captain Albert C. Read

Saratoga Air Group
Lt. Cmdr. Austin K. Doyle

VB-3 - 18 VSB
Lt. Cmdr. Robert E. Blick
VF-3 - 18 VF, 1 VSB, 2 VM
Lt. Cmdr. H. F. Cooper
VS-3 - 18 VSB
Lt. Cmdr. Charles F. Greber
VT-3 - 18 VTB
Lt. Cmdr. Frank C. Sutton
Miscellaneous Aircraft - 2 VM, 3 VSO, 2 VJ, 1 VSB

Other Memories
The 1932 movie Hell Divers was filmed aboard the ship and starred Wallace Beery and a young Clark Gable as a pair of competing aircraft gunners assigned to VF-1B.

During Grand Joint Exercise No. 4, Saratoga and Lexington were able to launch an airstrike against Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 February 1932, without being detected. The two carriers were separated for Fleet Problem XIII which followed shortly afterward. Blue Fleet and Saratoga were tasked to attack Hawaii and the West Coast defended by Lexington and the Black Fleet. On 15 March, Lexington caught Saratoga with all of her planes still on deck and was ruled to have knocked out her flight deck and have badly damaged the carrier, which was subsequently judged sunk during a night attack by Black Fleet destroyers. Captain George W. Steele assumed command on 11 July 1932. While en route from San Diego to San Pedro, the ship briefly ran aground off Sunset Beach, California on 17 August. Captain Rufus F. Zogbaum, Jr. (son of the famous illustrator) relieved Steele, who was ordered to immediately retire, on 1 January 1933.

Before Fleet Problem XIV began the following month, the Army and the Navy conducted a joint exercise simulating a carrier attack on Hawaii. Lexington and Saratoga successfully attacked Pearl Harbor at dawn on 31 January without being detected. During the actual fleet problem, the ship successfully attacked targets in and around Los Angeles and San Francisco although she was damaged by opposing ships during the latter attack.
Scenes from the 1933 Joe E. Brown film comedy Son of a Sailor were filmed aboard Saratoga and featured flight deck musters of the ships' company. Fleet Problem XV returned to the Gulf of Panama and the Caribbean in April?May 1934; the participating ships of the Pacific Fleet remained in the Caribbean and off the East Coast for more training and maneuvers until they returned to their home bases in November. Captain Kenneth Whiting relieved Zogbaum on 12 June, after the conclusion of the fleet problem.