Coast Guard Ace?

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

What Boatswain's Mate was a World War I fighter pilot ace?

[BMC Ken Gouge]

Good question, and I don't have the answer. I do have another similar question. Name a former Coastie who is in the baseball hall of fame.

[MKC Craig Thorngren (Ret)]

Was he a BM before or after he became an Ace?? I've searched for WWI ace's, and none of them list them being in the CG. Most of them were in the Army and a few Navy. That's not to say that they didn't join another service, or country for that matter, to fight (Many of Canada's ace's were actually Americans). I'm going to guess James Healy...

Craig

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

Craig,

Good thinking. He was a BM in the Coast Guard but did earn his "ACE"ness while a member of another country's service.

I'll hold off a bit longer to see if there are anyother thoughts.

Bill

[MSTCS Jerald P. Motyka]

Isn't this just stealing thunder from someone else's branch? If he earned his three aviation kills in the Coast Guard, then I think we can call him an Ace - but he didn't.

This almost sounds like the Air Force, who steal others' actions to give themselves something of a "history", since they are so junior to the other services.

If Munro had survived and still received the Medal of Honor, but then switched to Aviation, would we then call him, "The only CG Aviator who earned the MOH?" I see this as the same thing.

[BMC Ken Gouge]

Gerald, If he was a BM in the Coast Guard I doubt he shot down any aircraft from the air. We BM's don't have wings. Also, it is 5 for ace status.

And no, If Munro had changed to police chief he would have still been a signalman when he received the Medal Of Honor. He may have been the only police chief wearing one, but that has nothing to do with where it was earned.

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

Jerald,

My initial question did not claim he was a Coast Guard Ace, but rather a World War I Ace.

You won't find his name on the E-City memorial either.

[MSTC Jerome Lockwood]

Name a former Coastie who is in the baseball hall of fame.


Al Barlick was an Umpire was in the Coast Guard during WW II.

[CWO Dana Lewis (QMC) (Ret)]

Good afternoon Bill,

Did I run across that bit of historical information in an informative article that Petaluma bound Coast Guard CPOs would find very informative ??

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

Good afternoon Bill,

Did I run across that bit of historical information in an informative article that Petaluma bound Coast Guard CPOs would find very informative ??

Aye, you did.

I found another interesting piece of information about the person. He allowed Ivan Sirkorsy (sp?) to set up his first aircraft factory on his chicken farm.

[BMCS Bill Gheen]

I think it was LT Stewart Graham, he ws a Surfman.

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

Well folks the answer is Victor Utgoff. Who you say?

CBM(L) Utgoff was a pilot in the Imperial Russian Navy and achieved the rank of Lt. CDR. He was not technically an ACE but is included in the list of them for WWI pilots. He received numerous medals and awards which are still worn by his decendents at the annual Russian Ball in Washington, D. C.

He immigrated to the U. S. in 1917 after Bolseviks took over Russian. He had a chicken farm in New York on which is friend Sikorsky built his first aircraft factory as primitive as it was.

Utgoff enlisted in the U. S. Coast Guard in 1929 as a BM1(L) and flew aircraft out of Gloucester, Mass. He was advanced to BMC(L) in 1930 the same year he was killed in an aircraft crash. He was flying a private aircraft at the time.

I suppose he was the first BMC killed in an aircraft crash in service history.

[CWO Dana Lewis (QMC) (Ret)]

There is a very good article on the site for the CPO school out in California by the MC that lays out the origins of the CG Chief Petty Officer. It is on the menu that has info on the cap device, reporting aboard, school history. Really great info.

[SKC Raymond Kurtz]

I found a fascinating website that deals with Utgoff's early years.

www.firstworldwar.com/bio/utgoff.htm
Who's Who: Victor Utgoff
Updated - Saturday, 2 August, 2003
Victor Utgoff (1889-1930), while not a recognised air ace, was nevertheless the recipient of many decorations in his Russian homeland.

Born on 14 July 1889 in what is today Lodz in Poland, Utgoff enlisted as a naval cadet in the pre-war Russian Navy and went on to serve with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

With the establishment of an air service attached to the Black Sea Fleet in 1912 Utgoff seized his opportunity to gain air training, gaining his pilot's license in July the same year.

With the onset of war in Europe in August 1914 Utgoff - by now a decorated Lieutenant - became the Navy's first wartime pilot, attached to the Black Sea air service and flying seaplanes.

March 1915 brought Utgoff a fresh challenge, that of flying combat missions against Turkey. A recipient of the Order of St. George Utgoff received a promotion to Captain and was made second in command of the Russian air arm. His continued industry - by now flying seaplanes on bombing raids against the Bulgarian port of Varna - received further recognition in August 1916, this time by means of the Golden Sword of St. George.

With the advent of the February Revolution in Russia Utgoff travelled to the U.S. with his family in 1917, initially temporarily and then - once the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917 - permanently.

[MKC Craig Thorngren (Ret)]

So if he isn't a recognized Ace, then what type of Ace is he?? He obviously did some pretty harrowing things, but if he doesn't have the five aerial victories, he isn't an ace... Are his victories just not verified?

Craig

[SKC Raymond Kurtz]

Since Utgoff was a bomber pilot he would not have been involved in air to air combat, the ace title is probably just an honorary thing.

[MKC Craig Thorngren (Ret)]

So he isn't an Ace?? Come on Bill, I know your holding out on us :D

Craig

[GMCM Bill Wells (Ret)]

So if he isn't a recognized Ace, then what type of Ace is he?? He obviously did some pretty harrowing things, but if he doesn't have the five aerial victories, he isn't an ace... Are his victories just not verified?

Craig

I no longer have the emails, but I did correspond with a fella in Russia who had done some research. Many of the records are inconclusive or lost. However, It wasn't that difficult to become an Ace in that era. Also note, he was in the war for three years flying missions.

Another thing, he was part of Imperial Russia. The Bolseviks were not about to give the Czarists credit for anything.