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[[image]] NAVAL 50TH ANNIVERSARY
1911                      1961
         AVIATION [[/image]]

NAVAL AVIATION NEWS

Missile DD is Commissioned
Named for Naval Aviator No. Three

The guided missile destroyer Towers (DDG-9) was commissioned 6 June at the Puget Sound naval Shipyard. Mrs. John H. Towers, widow of the officer for whom the ship was named, participated in the formal ceremony.

The ship is named for Adm. John H. Towers, Naval Aviator #3, who was trained at Glenn Curtiss' Hammondsport, New York, flying school in 1911.

During his career, Adm. Towers served in most of the top aviation commands, including the post of Officer-in-Charge of the flying school at Pensacola. He was Chief of BU AER and ComNavAirPac.

When he was retired in December 1957, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean areas.

The Towers will mount Tartar surface-to-air guided missiles and will be equipped with the latest anti-submarine warfare equipment including long range sonar, ASW rockets, and tubes for ASW torpedoes. The ship also features aluminum superstructure.

High Honor Goes to Raborn
President Awards Collier Trophy

On June 15, the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, presented the Robert J. Collier Trophy to VAdm. William F. Raborn, Jr., Director of Special Projects, United States Navy, "under whose direction the U.S. Navy, Science and Industry created the operational Fleet Ballistic Missile Weapon System–Polaris." The Trophy was presented by President Kennedy at a White House ceremony.

High-ranking defense leaders, members of Congress, officials of major contracting firms for the Polaris and members of Adm. Raborn's immediate staff witnessed the Trophy ceremony.
The NAA, whose president is Miss Jacqueline Cochran, administers the Collier Trophy. Gen. Nathan F. Twining is chairman of the Trophy Committee.

The Trophy, sponsored by LOOK Magazine, is awarded "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency or safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year." Adm. Raborn's honor is for work he did in 1960.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Collier Trophy, which was established in 1911 by Robert J. Collier. Given originally for outstanding accomplishment in aeronautics, award requirements were expanded last year in include astronautics. This is the first time the famed Collier Trophy has been given for any accomplishment involving an underwater vehicle.

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION dedicated a special Naval Aviation exhibit May 8, on the 50th Anniversary of Naval Air. In scene at left, Mr. Phillip S. Hopkins, curator of the air museum, Cdr. J.F. Davis, Mrs. T.G. Ellyson, and Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Smithsonian director, stand before part of the exhibit. At right, Mrs. Ellyson holds a model of the Curtiss A-1 Triad which her husband, Lt. T.G. Ellyson, Naval Aviator Number One, flew in 1911, and Cdr. Davis holds a model of the McDonnell F4H-1 Phantom II which he flew in establishing a world speed record of 1390.21 miles per hour over a 100-kilometer closed course at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. in September of 1960.

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