Leslie Skinner

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Leslie Skinner
Rocket developments by Skinner: M6 (Bazooka) and M8, each with the exercise variant

Leslie Alfred Skinner (born April 21, 1900 in San Francisco , California , † November 2, 1978 in Clearwater , Florida ) was an American rocket engineer who is known as the developer of the American anti-tank weapon Bazooka .

Life

Leslie Skinner, the son of a military surgeon of the United States Army , his father wanted to follow since his childhood in the footsteps and seek a medical career. At the same time he was enthusiastic about rocket technology . At Fort Strong in 1915 he set fire to the roof of the infirmary in an attempt. In 1918 he joined the Boston Latin School , and served in the US Army until the end of the First World War . He began medical training at Harvard University , but dropped out. He chose a military career and completed officer training at West Point in 1924 . From 1926 he was assigned to the United States Army Air Corps , where he served as an airspace observer and balloon and airplane pilot . In 1931 he was assigned to the United States Army Ordnance Department and transferred to Aberdeen Proving Ground , where he was responsible for automotive tests. Inspired by earlier attempts by Robert Goddard and Clarence Hickman in 1918 at the same location, he continued his rocket tests outside of duty. In just under two years he undertook around 900 missile test flights with the aim of establishing missiles as aircraft armament. Among other things, he found that two-base gunpowder is particularly suitable as a drive. Skinner left Aberdeen in between to earn a Masters of Engineering in weapons technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1934 . The US Army recognized Skinner's abilities and established a full-time position for missile research for him, but on a very limited budget. In 1938 the US Army transferred Skinner to Hawaii .

After the outbreak of World War II , Hickman, now a member of the National Defense Research Committee , arranged for Skinner to be transferred to the Indian Head Powder Factory in November 1940 to continue work on missiles for the US Army. The project had a low priority for the US Army, at least Skinner got Edward George Uhl as his assistant. While Skinner mainly devoted himself to aircraft and artillery missiles, which were then introduced as the M8 , Uhl concentrated on the development of the anti-tank missile, which became known as the Bazooka. Skinner helped his colleagues in the United States Navy on projects such as missile-assisted aircraft launch and rocket- guided aerial bombs in order to secure their support in turn.

A large demonstration of new anti-tank weapons in front of a high-ranking audience was planned for May 1942, but Skinner and Uhl were not invited. Without the knowledge of their superiors, they took part in the demonstration without authorization. It was a huge success for Skinner and Uhl, which was the breakthrough for the bazooka. Skinner's rush ahead was interpreted as insubordination .

He stayed in Indian Head until 1943, after which he was transferred to England to work on various missile developments. Among other things, he analyzed the reconnaissance photos of the German Aggregat 4 missiles. Upon his return, Skinner realized that the Ordnance Corps had set up its own missile research department, but that he wasn't supposed to be there. He was initially entrusted with smaller tasks in the Pentagon for a year until June 1944 . After that, his tasks were to set up a liaison office with the California Institute of Technology and to set up test facilities for guided missiles at Camp Irwin and Fort Bliss . In July 1945, however, he was transferred and had to organize the supply of ammunition in the South Pacific for the planned but never carried out invasion of Japan ( Operation Coronet ).

Frustrated, he quit his service with the US Army and switched to the rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet in Azusa . He stayed there only a year, then he joined the newly formed United States Air Force . He served for about a year in the weapons research laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , and another year at Eglin Air Force Base , where he established the Air Armament Center . In 1951 he ended his military career with the rank of colonel . He first became a consultant at the Swiss defense company Oerlikon-Bührle , then Vice President at the subsidiary Oerlikon Tool and Arms Corporation of America in Swannanoa ( North Carolina ). After retiring, he worked as a self-employed weapons developer.

Leslie Skinner received several patents in the field of rocket technology and detonators .

Leslie Skinner was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He and his wife Margaret, daughter of the painter Hugh Breckenridge , had a son and a daughter.

Awards

Leslie Skinner was honored with Legion of Merit and Bronze Star of the US Army as well as the Hickman Award of the American Rocket Society .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report of the Harvard Class of 1922. Harvard University , 1947, p. 925 ( Google Book Search ).
  2. ↑ a b c Col. Skinner dies, Invented the Bazooka in Times-News (Hendersonville) of November 4, 1978 ( online )
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Col. Leslie Skinner, Inventor of Bazooka in Evening Independent, November 4, 1978 ( online )
  4. ^ Reardon: Bazooka , 2010, p. 73
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i West Point Association of Graduates on Leslie Skinner, based on the article Pioneers in Rocketry II by Leo A. Codd in ORDNANCE magazine, January – February 1959 ( online )
  6. ^ Reardon: Bazooka , 2010, p. 74
  7. ^ Reardon: Bazooka , 2010, p. 74
  8. ^ Reardon: Bazooka , 2010, p. 74
  9. ↑ US rocket ordnance, development and use in world war II. , United States Government Printing Office , Washington, 1946, p. 24 ( online ).
  10. ^ Reardon: Bazooka , 2010, p. 74
  11. ^ Rottman: The Bazooka , 2012, p. 14
  12. ↑ Google patent search for Leslie Skinner
personal data
SURNAME Skinner, Leslie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Skinner, Leslie Alfred (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rocket engineer
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH San Francisco , California
DATE OF DEATH November 2nd 1978
Place of death Clearwater