Details
EARHART, AMELIA, Aviator, disappeared on 1937 flight. Autograph letter signed in full to Mrs. Moffett, wife of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Rye, New York, 7 April 1933. One full page, 4to, on her personal letterhead, corners tipped to another sheet.
EARHART TO THE WIDOW OF AN AVIATION PIONEER LOST AT SEA
"I am writing you only after all hope of finding more survivors of the crash [in which her husband's plane was lost] seems to be gone. Please know I am just one of many in the aviation world who extend you sympathy in your bereavement in memory of a very gallant friend...." Full autograph letters by Earhart are rare.
Rear Admiral Moffett (1869-1933), born in Charleston, South Carolina, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, served under Admiral Dewey in the Spanish-American War and commanded a warship in the Vera Cruz incident in 1914 (for his audacity in this action, he was awarded the Comgressional Medal of Honor). He later commanded the U.S.S. MMissisippi, the Navy's first modern battleship and became interested in the military possibilities of aviation; he pioneered the use of ship-launched aircraft for patrol purposes. In 1921 Moffett was appointed by President Harding the first Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, charged with responsibility for aircraft design, procurement and training of flying personnel. In this post Admiral Moffet became one of the most visible and influential figures in the field of aeronautics; inevitably, he was caught up in the controversies surrounding the cantankerous General Bill Mitchell over the question of an independent air arm and Navy-Army cooperation. Moffett was one of the first in the Navy to predict that the battleship would in time be rendered obselete by aviation. He did much to boost aviation by sponsoring aircraft races and long distance flights by aircraft and dirigibles, and was a tireless advocate of a carrier-based air corps for the Navy. On April 3, 1933 Admiral Moffett was a passenger on the U.S. Navy's dirigible Akron which crashed in a storm off the Atlantic coast. Moffett's body was recovered the day after the present letter of condolence was written by Earhart. See Edward Arpee, From Frigates to Flat-Tops, 1953.
EARHART TO THE WIDOW OF AN AVIATION PIONEER LOST AT SEA
"I am writing you only after all hope of finding more survivors of the crash [in which her husband's plane was lost] seems to be gone. Please know I am just one of many in the aviation world who extend you sympathy in your bereavement in memory of a very gallant friend...." Full autograph letters by Earhart are rare.
Rear Admiral Moffett (1869-1933), born in Charleston, South Carolina, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, served under Admiral Dewey in the Spanish-American War and commanded a warship in the Vera Cruz incident in 1914 (for his audacity in this action, he was awarded the Comgressional Medal of Honor). He later commanded the U.S.S. MMissisippi, the Navy's first modern battleship and became interested in the military possibilities of aviation; he pioneered the use of ship-launched aircraft for patrol purposes. In 1921 Moffett was appointed by President Harding the first Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, charged with responsibility for aircraft design, procurement and training of flying personnel. In this post Admiral Moffet became one of the most visible and influential figures in the field of aeronautics; inevitably, he was caught up in the controversies surrounding the cantankerous General Bill Mitchell over the question of an independent air arm and Navy-Army cooperation. Moffett was one of the first in the Navy to predict that the battleship would in time be rendered obselete by aviation. He did much to boost aviation by sponsoring aircraft races and long distance flights by aircraft and dirigibles, and was a tireless advocate of a carrier-based air corps for the Navy. On April 3, 1933 Admiral Moffett was a passenger on the U.S. Navy's dirigible Akron which crashed in a storm off the Atlantic coast. Moffett's body was recovered the day after the present letter of condolence was written by Earhart. See Edward Arpee, From Frigates to Flat-Tops, 1953.