Alexander Procofieff de Seversky
Encyclopedia
Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky (Russian: Александр Николаевич Прокофьев-Северский) (June 7, 1894 – August 24, 1974) was a Russian-American aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

 pioneer, inventor, and influential advocate of strategic air power
Strategic bombing
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...

.

Early life

Of noble Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 parentage, Seversky was born in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, then part of the Russian Empire and called Tiflis (now Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

). He entered a military school at age 10. Seversky's father was one of the first Russian aviators to own an aircraft (a modified Bleriot XI built by Mikheil Grigorashvili) and by the age of 14, when Seversky entered the Imperial Russian Naval Academy, his father had already taught him how to fly. Graduating in 1914 with an engineering degree, Lieutenant Seversky was serving at sea with a destroyer flotilla when World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 began.

World War I

Seversky was selected for duty as a naval aviator, transferring to the Military School of Aeronautics at Sebastopol, Crimea. After completing a postgraduate program on aeronautics in 1914–15, he was reassigned as a pilot in the summer of 1915 to an aviation unit in the Baltic Fleet. While stationed in the Gulf of Riga
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....

, on his first mission, he attacked a German destroyer but was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire before he could drop his bombs. The bombs exploded in the crash, killing his observer and badly wounding Seversky. Doctors amputated his leg below the knee and although he was fitted with an artificial leg, despite his protests, authorities deemed him unfit to return to combat. To prove to his superiors that he could still fly, Seversky appeared unannounced at an air show, but was quickly arrested following his impromptu spirited aerial performance.

Tsar Nicholas II intervened on his behalf and in July 1916, de Seversky returned to combat duty, downing his first enemy aircraft three days later. In February 1917, he assumed command of the 2nd Naval Fighter Detachment, until he was seriously injured in an accident where a horse drawn wagon broke his good leg. After serving in Moscow, as the Chief of Pursuit Aviation, Seversky returned to combat duty. On 14 October 1916, he was forced down in enemy territory but made it back to the safety of his own lines. He went on to fly 57 combat missions, shooting down six German aircraft (his claims for 13 victories would make him Russia's third-ranking World War I ace although the claims are disputed). Seversky was the leading Russian naval ace in the conflict. For his wartime service, Seversky was awarded the Order of St. George
Order of St. George
The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...

 (4th Class); Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....

 (4th Class); Order of St. Stanislaus (2nd & 3rd Class); Order of St. Anne
Order of St. Anna
The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...

 (2nd; 3rd; and 4th class).

Emigration to the United States

During the 1917 Revolution, Seversky was stationed in St. Petersberg and remained in uniform at the request of the commander-in-chief of the Baltic Fleet. In March 1918, he was selected as an assistant naval attaché in the Russian Naval Aviation Mission to the United States. Seversky departed via Siberia and while in the U.S., decided to remain there rather than return to a Russia torn apart by the Revolution. Settling in Manhattan, he briefly operated a restaurant.

Aviation career

In 1918, Seversky offered his services to the War Department as a pilot with General Kenly, Chief of the Signal Corps appointing him as a consulting engineer and test pilot assigned to the Buffalo District of aircraft production. After the Armistice, Seversky became an assistant to air power advocate General Billy Mitchell, aiding him in his push to prove air power's ability to sink battleships. Seversky applied for and received the first patent for air-to-air refueling in 1921. Over the next few years, 364 patent claims were made, among them the first gyroscopically stabilized bombsight, which Seversky developed with Sperry Gyroscope Company in 1923. After joining the Army Air Corps Reserve, Seversky was commissioned a major in 1928.

Seversky Aircraft Corporation

Using the $50,000 from the sale of his bombsight to the U. S. Government, Seversky founded the Seversky Aero Corporation in 1923. Concentrating on making aircraft parts and instruments, the small company was unable to survive the stock market crash of 1929. On February 16, 1931, with the backing of Wall Street millionaire Edward Moore and other investors, he resurrected the enterprise as the new Seversky Aircraft Corporation in Long Island, New York. Moving into the former EDO Corporation
EDO Corporation
EDO Corporation was an American company, which was acquired by ITT Corporation in 2007. EDO designed and manufactured products for defense, intelligence, and commercial markets, and provided related engineering and professional services. It employed 4,000 people worldwide and had revenues of $715...

's float plane factory at College Point, Long Island, Seversky's patents were the primary assets of the new company. Resolved to invest in research and design rather than relying on licence-manufacturing, many of Seversky Aircraft's designers were Russian and Georgian engineers whom Seversky had rescued from Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

's purges by bringing them to the United States, including Chief Engineer Michael Gregor and Alexander Kartveli
Alexander Kartveli
Alexander Kartveli 1896–1974, born Kartvelishvili) was a famous and influential aircraft engineer and a pioneer of American aviation history. Kartveli achieved important breakthroughs in military aviation in the time of turbojet fighters...

. Along with Seversky, the designers embarked on an advanced all-metal, multi-place monoplane amphibian, the SEV-3
Seversky SEV-3
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "The end of the beginning...The Seversky P-35". Air Enthusiast, Ten, July–September 1979, pp. 8–21....

. This ground-breaking design would go on to set numerous speed records at the 1933–1939 National Air Races, often piloted by Seversky himself, who was the company's greatest "pitchman". On September 15, 1935, flying at a speed just over 230 mph, Seversky set a world speed record for piston-engine amphibious airplanes. Seversky also set a transcontinental speed record in 1938.
The SEV-3 was eventually the progenitor of a family of advanced aircraft including the SEV-3XLR and 2-XP (two-place, experimental) fighter, the BT-8 trainer and SEV-1P (single-seat) fighter. The most radical conversion occurred when the fixed-gear SEV-1P was fitted with a rearward retracting main undercarriage which was the prototype of the successful P-35A fighter series. The Seversky Aircraft design office led by Seversky was responsible for 25 different innovative projects, many of them "still-born" including the "Seversky Super-Clipper", an eight-engine, 250 ft span transoceanic transport and the four-place, tricycle gear "Seversky Executive" high speed personal aircraft. The Sev-S2, virtually identical to the P-35, which was undergoing trials in 1937, dominated the last three Bendix Trophy
Bendix trophy
The Bendix Trophy is a U.S. aeronautical racing trophy. The transcontinental, point-to-point race, sponsored by industrialist Vincent Bendix founder of Bendix Corporation, began in 1931 as part of the National Air Races. Initial prize money for the winners was $15,000...

 air races, beginning in 1937 when Frank Fuller won at an average speed of 415.51 km/h.

The Seversky Aircraft Company began operating out of new facilities in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 in 1936, purchasing three factories, a flying field and hangar along with a seaplane assembly base at Famingdale and Amityville, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

. Despite landing several government contracts, Seversky Aircraft was never able to turn a profit under Seversky's management and by September 1938, the company had to be bailed out again by Paul Moore (Edward's brother and heir). His financing of a rescue came with the proviso that Seversky, as President, would have his personal budget cut, while the Board of Directors transferred more power to Managing Director Wallace Kellett. A controversial contract Seversky negotiated in secret with the Japanese for 20 SEV-2PA-B3 fighters created antagonism with the War Department, leading inevitably to the U.S. government putting pressure on the USAAC to limit the P-35 order to the initial batch of 76 aircraft.

When Seversky left for Europe on a sales tour in the winter of 1938–39, the Board reorganized the operation on October 13, 1939, re-named as Republic Aviation Corporation
Republic Aviation Company
The Republic Aviation Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Originally known as the Seversky Aircraft Company, the company was responsible for the design and production of many important military aircraft, including the P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84...

 with Kellett becoming the new president. Seversky sued for redress but while legal actions dragged on, the Board of Directors voted him out of the company he had created. Republic Aviation would become an industrial behemoth during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 designing and producing the P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

 and in postwar years, a continuing line of successful fighter aircraft before being acquired by Fairchild in 1965.

Air power advocate

As World War II approached, Seversky became engrossed in formulating his theories of air warfare. Shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

, he wrote Victory Through Air Power
Victory Through Air Power
Victory Through Air Power is a 1942 non-fiction book by Alexander P. de Seversky. It was made into a 1943 Walt Disney animated feature film of the same name: Victory Through Air Power.-Theories:...

, published in April 1942, advocating the strategic use of air bombardment. The best-selling book (No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, appearing first in mid-August 1942 and remaining in first place for four weeks) with five million copies sold. The book's popularity and hard-hitting message led to Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

 adapting the book into an animated motion picture
Victory Through Air Power
Victory Through Air Power is a 1942 non-fiction book by Alexander P. de Seversky. It was made into a 1943 Walt Disney animated feature film of the same name: Victory Through Air Power.-Theories:...

 (1943) of the same name where Seversky (who also served as the film's technical consultant) and General Mitchell provided live-action commentary. The Disney animated film received a lukewarm reception at the box office and from critics who felt it was an unusual departure from the standard Disney studio fare, sending out a powerful propaganda message based on an abstract political argument. The influence of both the book and film in wartime, however, was significant, stimulating popular awareness and driving the national debate on strategic air power.

Seversky was one of a number of strategic air advocates whose vision was realized in the 1946 creation of the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

 and the development of aircraft such as the Convair B-36
Convair B-36
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...

 and B-47 Stratojet
B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...

. Seversky continued to publicize his ideas for innovative aircraft and weaponry, notably the 1964 Ionocraft
Ionocraft
An ionocraft or ion-propelled aircraft, commonly known as a lifter or hexalifter, is an electrohydrodynamic device to produce thrust in the air, without requiring any combustion or moving parts. The term "Ionocraft" dates back to the 1960s, an era in which EHD experiments were at their peak...

 which was to be a single-man aircraft powered by the ionic wind from a high-voltage discharge. A laboratory demonstration was acknowledged to require 90 watts to lift a two ounce (60 g) model, and no man-carrying version was ever built.

In postwar years, Seversky continued to lecture and write about aviation and the strategic use of air power, following up his landmark treatise with Air Power: Key to Survival (1950) and America: Too Young to Die! (1961).

Personal life

Seversky married New Orleans socialite Evelyn Olliphant (1907–1967)(http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=7008364&PIpi=6891278) in 1923. She was also well-known as a pilot. The two settled in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 (at 40 Central Park South). In 1927, Seversky became a naturalized citizen of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 1967, Mrs. de Seversky died at her country home at Asharoken Beach, Northport, L.I. at the age of 60.

Often described as "flamboyant" and a "showman," Seversky was always good at capturing the public eye, and was considered a newsworthy celebrity. In 1942 The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

even published one of his residences, reporting that "Airplane Designer Rents Apartment: Major Seversky One Of Seven New Tenants in 40 Central Park South."

Seversky was a founder and trustee of the New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...

, which in 1972 acquired an elegant mansion originally built by Alfred I. du Pont
Alfred I. du Pont
Alfred Irénée du Pont was an American industrialist, financier and philanthropist. A member of the influential Du Pont family, Alfred du Pont first rose to prominence through his work in his family's Delaware-based gunpowder manufacturing plant, E. I...

. It was renamed "The DeSeversky Center" in his honor, and is a popular venue for weddings.

Death

Seversky died in 1974 at New York's Memorial Hospital, and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...

 in the Bronx.

Honors

He received the Harmon Trophy in 1939 for advances in aviation. For his work on air power, Seversky received the Medal of Merit in 1945 from President Harry Truman and the Exceptional Service Medal in 1969 in recognition of his service as a special consultant to the Chiefs of Staff of the USAF. In 1970, Seversky was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Seversky aircraft

Before the genesis of the Republic Aircraft Corporation, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation produced the following aircraft, which were all variations on the same theme:
  • Seversky AT-12
  • Seversky BT-8
  • Seversky FN
  • Seversky P-35
    Seversky P-35
    The Seversky P-35 was a fighter aircraft built in the United States by the Seversky Aircraft Company in the late 1930s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-35 was the first single-seat fighter in U.S...

  • Seversky XP-41
    Seversky XP-41
    The Seversky XP-41 was a fighter aircraft built in the United States in 1939. A single prototype was modified from the last production Seversky P-35 by adding a new streamlined canopy, a Wright R-1830-19 engine with a two-speed supercharger, and revised landing gear. XP-41 first flew in March 1939...

  • Seversky 2PA
  • Seversky A8V
  • Seversky SEV-1XP
  • Seversky SEV-3
    Seversky SEV-3
    |-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. "The end of the beginning...The Seversky P-35". Air Enthusiast, Ten, July–September 1979, pp. 8–21....

  • Seversky EP-106 (Export Pursuit)
  • Seversky Navy Type S Two-Seat Fighter

External links

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