Editing Albert Cushing Read

{{short description|United States Navy admiral}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Albert Cushing Read, Sr.
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1887|3|29}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1967|10|10|1887|4|29}}
|birth_place= [[Lyme, New Hampshire]], US
|death_place= [[Coconut Grove, Florida]], US
|placeofburial= [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= File:Albert Cushing Read in 1919.jpg
|caption= Read in 1919
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flagu|United States|1912}}
|branch={{Naval|United States|navy-1864}}
|serviceyears= 1907–1946
|rank= [[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|border|23px]] [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear admiral]]
|commands=
|battles= [[World War I]]<br />[[World War II]]
|awards= [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal|Distinguished Service Medal]]<br>[[Legion of Merit]]<br>[[NC-4 Medal]]
|laterwork=
}}
'''Albert Cushing Read, Sr.''' (March 29, 1887 – October 10, 1967) was an [[aviator]] and [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] in the [[United States Navy]]. He and his crew made the first [[transatlantic flight]] in the ''[[NC-4]]'', a [[Curtiss NC]] [[flying boat]].<ref name=obit/>

==Early life and Atlantic crossing==

[[File:Albert C. Read and Bess Burdine Read.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery]]
Read was born in [[Lyme, New Hampshire]] on March 29, 1887 into a [[Boston Brahmin]] family.  He attended the [[United States Naval Academy]] at Annapolis, graduating in the class of 1907.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/luckybag1907unse/page/98/mode/2up |title=Lucky Bag |date=1907 |publisher=First Class, United States Naval Academy |others=Nimitz Library U. S. Naval Academy}}</ref> His Academy classmates included [[Patrick N. L. Bellinger]], [[Willis W. Bradley]], [[George McCall Courts|George M. Courts]], [[Henry Kent Hewitt|Henry K. Hewitt]], [[Jonas H. Ingram]], [[Claud Ashton Jones|Claud A. Jones]], and [[Raymond A. Spruance|Raymond Spruance]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/luckybag1907unse/page/98/mode/2up |title=Lucky Bag |date=1907 |publisher=First Class, United States Naval Academy |others=Nimitz Library U. S. Naval Academy}}</ref> In 1915, he was designated naval aviator number 24.

As a Lieutenant Commander in May 1919, Read commanded a crew of five on the ''[[NC-4]]'' Curtiss [[flying boat]], the first aircraft ever to make a [[transatlantic flight]], a couple of weeks before [[Transatlantic flight of Alcock and Brown|Alcock and Brown's non-stop flight]], and eight years before [[Charles Lindbergh]]'s solo, non-stop flight. Read's flight started from [[Rockaway Beach, Long Island|Rockaway Beach]], [[Long Island]], took 23 days before arriving in [[Plymouth]], England. The six stops included layovers at [[Trepassey Bay]], [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[the Azores]], and [[Lisbon, Portugal]].

Later in 1919, upon returning to the U.S., Read predicted: "It soon will be possible to drive an airplane around the world at a height of 60,000 feet and 1,000 miles per hour." The next day, ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran an editorial in reaction, stating: "It is one thing to be a qualified aviator, and quite another to be a qualified prophet. Nothing now known supports the Lieutenant Commander’s forecast. An airplane at the height of 60,000 feet would be whirling its propellers in a vacuum, and no aviator could live long in the freezing cold of interstellar space."

On June 3, 1919, he was made a commander of the [[Order of the Tower and Sword]] by the Portuguese government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ordens.presidencia.pt/?idc=154&list=1|title=Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas |trans-title=Portuguese Honorary Orders |website=Presidency of the Portuguese Republic |language=pt |accessdate=2018-04-14}}</ref> After returning to the United States, Read was awarded the [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]], which at the time was a more prestigious award than the [[Navy Cross]] that the other five NC-4 crew members received (the order of award precedence was switched in 1942).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-030/h-030-2.html |title=H-030-2: NC-4's Transatlantic Crossing, May 1919 |first=Samuel J. |last=Cox |date=May 2019 |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |accessdate=2020-07-17}}</ref> In 1929, Read and the rest of the flight crew of NC-4 were awarded [[Congressional Gold Medal]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://artandhistory.house.gov/highlights.aspx?action=view&intID=331 |title=A Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the crew of the first transatlantic flight |publisher=artandhistory.house.gov |accessdate=2012-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916013528/http://artandhistory.house.gov/highlights.aspx?action=view&intID=331 |archive-date=2012-09-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Later life==
On June 24, 1924, Commander Read assumed command of both {{USS|Ajax|AG-15|6}} and the aircraft squadrons of the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5538319 |title=The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner |first=George Carroll |last=Dyer |date=1972 |page=92 |volume=1 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Navy |accessdate=2020-07-15}}</ref> He served in this position until ''Ajax'' was relieved by {{USS|Jason|AC-12|6}} in June 1925 and subsequently decommissioned in July 1925. From Oct. 1926 to May 1929 Capt. Read resided at the Historic "Connecticut House" on Norfolk Naval Base.<ref>wall plaque at Connecticut House Naval Station Norfolk</ref>{{better source needed|date= January 2024}}

Read trained [[naval aviator]]s through [[World War II]]. He was nicknamed "Putty Read" because his face rarely showed any emotion.<ref>[http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/daredevils/Atlantic.htm Century of Flight: The Atlantic Challenge]</ref>

On June 4, 1962, he appeared on the TV game show ''I've Got a Secret''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ivegotasecretonline.com/about/episode-guide/year-1962/#6-4|title=Year 1962|date=2009-03-03|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-09|archive-date=2019-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204114201/http://ivegotasecretonline.com/about/episode-guide/year-1962/#6-4|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He died in retirement in [[Coconut Grove, Florida]], on October 10, 1967.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Adm. Albert C. Read Dies at 80. First to Fly Across the Atlantic |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E1D9163DE63ABC4A52DFB667838C679EDE&legacy=true |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 11, 1967 }}</ref><ref>Cunningham p. 153.</ref> He is buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]] with his wife Bess Burdine Read (1896–1992).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgRyZWFkEgZhbGJlcnQaAWM-/|title=Burial Detail: Read, Albert C (section 2, grave 4968-7)|website=ANC Explorer}}</ref>

Read was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] in 1965. <ref>{{cite web |title=Enshrinee Albert Read |url=https://nationalaviation.org/enshrinee/albert-cushing-read/ |website=nationalaviation.org |publisher=National Aviation Hall of Fame |access-date=28 February 2023}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Congressional Gold Medal]]
* [[Navy Distinguished Service Medal]]
* [[NC-4 Medal]]
* [[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]
* [[American Defense Service Medal]]
* [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[Order of the Tower and Sword|Commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword]]
* [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]]
* [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]

==See also==
* [[John Alcock (RAF officer)|John Alcock]] - British commander of the first non-stop transatlantic flight (1919)
* [[Theodore G. Ellyson]] - U.S. Naval Aviator No. 1
* [[Eugene Burton Ely]] - First aviator to successfully takeoff and land from a ship
* [[William A. Moffett]] - First commander of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics & father of U.S. [[Naval aviation]]
* [[John Cyril Porte]] - British flying boat pioneer whose transatlantic flight attempt was cancelled due to WWI
* [[John Rodgers (naval officer, born 1881)|John Rodgers]] - U.S. Naval Aviator No. 2, commander of first flight to Hawaii (1925)
* [[John Henry Towers]] - U.S. Naval Aviator No. 3

{{Portal|Biography}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* Cunningham, Charlie and Jackie. ''Putty and Bess''. Alexandria, VA: Association of Naval Aviation, 1997.
* [http://www.earlyaviators.com/eread.htm Albert C. Read and the NC-4 on early aviators site]
* [http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=BE003093&tab=details&caller=search Commander Albert C. Read] is congratulated by Secretary of the Navy [[Josephus Daniels]] and Assistant Secretary of the Navy [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] (standing on right) on June 30, 1919
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/acread.htm Albert Read] at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website

{{Commons category|Albert Cushing Read}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Albert Cushing}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lyme, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Members of the Early Birds of Aviation]]
[[Category:United States Navy rear admirals (upper half)]]
[[Category:United States Naval Aviators]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Navy World War II admirals]]
[[Category:Aviation history of the United States]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword]]
[[Category:Congressional Gold Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Cushing family]]