Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. He is also known for discovering Mount Sidley, the largest dormant volcano in Antarctica.

Byrd claimed to be the first to reach both the North and South Poles by air. However, there is some controversy as to whether he was actually the first person to reach the North Pole. It is generally believed that the distance he claimed to have flown was longer than the possible fuel range of his airplane.

He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration, and the Navy Cross, the second highest honor for valor given by the U.S. Navy.

Family

Ancestry Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of Esther Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia. His ancestors include planter John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who established Richmond, as well as William Byrd I and Robert "King" Carter, a colonial governor. He was also descended from George Yeardley, Francis Wyatt and Samuel Argall. He was the brother of Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, a dominant figure in the Virginia Democratic Party from the 1920s until the 1960s; their father served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates for a time.Richard Evelyn Byrd Encyclopedia Virginia

Marriage On January 20, 1915, Richard married Marie Ames (d. 1974). He would later name a region of Antarctic land he discovered "Marie Byrd Land" after her, and a mountain range, the Ames Range, after her father Joseph Ames. They had four children – Richard Evelyn Byrd III, Evelyn Bolling Byrd Clarke, Katharine Agnes Byrd Breyer, and Helen Byrd Stabler. By late 1924, the Byrd family moved into a large brownstone house at 9 Brimmer Street in Boston's fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood that had been purchased by Marie's father, a wealthy industrialist.

Personal life Byrd was friends with Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, whose admiration of his polar exploits helped to gain Byrd sponsorship and financing for his various polar expeditions from the Ford Motor Company.

He had a pet dog, Igloo, who accompanied Byrd to the North and South poles and who is buried at the Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery with a tombstone that reads "He was more than a friend."*

Education and early naval career Byrd attended the Virginia Military Institute for two years and transferred to the University of Virginia, before financial circumstances inspired his starting over and taking an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, where he was appointed as a midshipman on May 28, 1908.

On June 8, 1912, Byrd graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. On July 14, 1912, he was assigned to the battleship USS Wyoming. During service in the Caribbean Sea, Byrd received his first letter of commendation, and later a Silver Lifesaving Medal, for twice plunging fully clothed to the rescue of a sailor who had fallen overboard. In April 1914, he transferred to the armored cruiser USS Washington and served in Mexican waters in June following the American intervention in April.

His next assignment was to the gunboat USS Dolphin, which also served as the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy. This assignment brought Byrd into contact with high-ranking officials and dignitaries, including then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) on June 8, 1915. During Byrd's assignment to Dolphin, he was commanded by future Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, who served as chief of staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Byrd's last assignment before forced retirement was to the presidential yacht USS Mayflower.

On March 15, 1916, Byrd, much to his frustration, was medically retired on three-quarters pay for an ankle injury he suffered on board Mayflower. Shortly thereafter, on December 14, 1916, he was assigned as the inspector and instructor for the Rhode Island Naval Militia in Providence, Rhode Island. While serving in this position, he was commended by Brigadier General Charles W. Abbot, the adjutant general of Rhode Island, for making great strides in improving the efficiency of the militia.

First World War

Shortly after the entry of the United States into the First World War in April 1917, Byrd oversaw the mobilization of the Rhode Island Naval Militia. He was then recalled to active duty and was assigned to the Office of Naval Operations and served in a desk job as secretary and organizer of the Navy Department Commission on Training Camps. In the autumn of 1917, he was sent to naval aviation school at Pensacola, Florida. He qualified as a naval aviator (number 608) in June 1918. He then commanded naval air forces at Naval Air Station Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, from July 1918 until the armistice in November. In that assignment, he was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant and the temporary rank of lieutenant commander.

For his services during the war, he received a letter of commendation from Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, which was after World War II converted to a Navy Commendation Medal.

After the war After the war, Byrd volunteered to be a crew member in the U.S. Navy's 1919 aerial transatlantic crossing. This mission was historic, as it was the first time the Atlantic Ocean was crossed by an aircraft. It was decided that only men who had not served overseas would be allowed on the mission. Unfortunately for Byrd, his tour of duty in Newfoundland was considered overseas service. Byrd was, however, able to make a valuable contribution, as his expertise in aerial navigation resulted in his appointment to plan the flight path of the mission. Of the three flying boats (NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4) that started from Newfoundland, only Lieutenant Commander Albert Read's NC-4 completed the trip on May 18, 1919, achieving the first transatlantic flight.

In 1921, Byrd volunteered to attempt a solo nonstop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, prefiguring Charles Lindbergh's historic flight by six years. Byrd's ambition was dashed by then acting Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who felt the risks outweighed the potential rewards. Byrd was then assigned to the ill-fated dirigible ZR-2 (formerly the British airship R-38). As fate would have it, Byrd missed his train to take him to the airship on August 24, 1921. The airship broke apart in midair, killing 44 of 49 crew members on board. Byrd lost several friends in the accident, and was involved in the subsequent recovery operations and investigation. The accident affected him deeply and inspired him to make safety a top priority in all of his future expeditions.

Due to reductions in the Navy after the First World War, Byrd reverted to the rank of lieutenant at the end of 1921. During the summer of 1923, then-Lieutenant Byrd and a group of volunteer Navy veterans of the First World War helped found the Naval Reserve Air Station (NRAS) at Squantum Point near Boston, using an unused First World War seaplane hangar which had remained more-or-less intact after the Victory Destroyer Plant shipyard was built on the site. NRAS Squantum was commissioned on August 15, 1923, and is considered to have been the first air base in the Naval Reserve program.

Byrd commanded the aviation unit of the arctic expedition to North Greenland led by Donald B. MacMillan from June to October 1925. Although the expedition was largely unsuccessful (they did not in fact reach the pole) Byrd's efforts and the successful contributions of the aviation element during the expedition led to Byrd's renown as a pioneer of aircraft in exploration.

During this expedition, Byrd made the acquaintance of Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett and Norwegian pilot Bernt Balchen, both of whom would later contribute to Byrd's expeditions. Bennett served as a pilot in his flight to the North Pole the next year. Balchen, whose knowledge of Arctic flight operations proved invaluable, was the primary pilot on Byrd's flight to the South Pole in 1929.

1926 North Pole flight

On May 9, 1926, Byrd and Navy Chief Aviation Pilot Floyd Bennett attempted a flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F.VIIa/3m tri-motor monoplane named Josephine Ford after the daughter of Ford Motor Company president Edsel Ford, who helped finance the expedition. In addition to Ford contributions, John D. Rockefeller also notably provided funding for the expedition. The flight left from Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and returned to its takeoff airfield, lasting 15 hours and 57 minutes, including 13 minutes spent circling at their Farthest North. Byrd and Bennett said they reached the North Pole, a distance of 1,535 miles (1,335 nautical miles).

When he returned to the United States from the Arctic, Byrd became a national hero. He was thrown a parade in New York City, and Congress passed a special act on December 21, 1926, promoting him to the rank of commander and awarding both Floyd Bennett and him the Medal of Honor. The Josephine Ford was flown around the country in celebration. Bennett was promoted to the warrant officer rank of machinist. Byrd and Bennett were presented with Tiffany Cross versions of the Medal of Honor on March 5, 1927, at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge.

Controversy

Since 1926, doubts have been raised, defenses made, and heated controversy arose over whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole. In 1958, Norwegian-American aviator and explorer Bernt Balchen cast doubt on Byrd's statement on the basis of his knowledge of the airplane's speed. Balchen said that Bennett had confessed to him months after the flight that Byrd and he had not reached the pole. Bennett, who had not completely healed from the early crash, developed pneumonia after participating in a flight to rescue downed German aviators in Greenly Island, Canada, leading to his death on April 25, 1928. Bennett, though, had started a memoir, given numerous interviews, and wrote an article for an aviation magazine about the flight before his death that all confirmed Byrd's version of the flight.

The 1996 release of Byrd's diary of the May 9, 1926, flight revealed erased (but still legible) sextant sights that sharply differ from Byrd's later June 22 typewritten official report to the National Geographic Society. Byrd took a sextant reading of the Sun at 7:07:10 GCT. His erased diary record shows the apparent (observed) solar altitude to have been 19°25'30", while his later official typescript reports the same 7:07:10 apparent solar altitude to have been 18°18'18". On the basis of this and other data in the diary, Dennis Rawlins concluded that Byrd steered accurately, and flew about 80% of the distance to the pole before turning back because of an engine oil leak, but later falsified his official report to support his statement of reaching the pole.