{"id":27869296,"date":"2026-10-13T10:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/revolt-of-the-admirals-1949-us-navy-b-36-uss-united-states\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T10:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:30:07","slug":"revolt-of-the-admirals-1949-us-navy-b-36-uss-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/revolt-of-the-admirals-1949-us-navy-b-36-uss-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolt of the Admirals: When the US Navy Fought the B-36"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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Five days later, the new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, cancelled her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>What followed is remembered as the Revolt of the Admirals: a public, bitter and career-ending fight between the Navy and the newly independent <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/air-forces\/united-states-air-force\/\">US Air Force<\/a> over who would deliver America's nuclear weapons, and whether the Navy's aircraft carriers had any future at all. At the centre of it was one aircraft, the Air Force's enormous <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/b-36-peacemaker\/\">Convair B-36 Peacemaker<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>In October 1949, Navy officers took that fight to Congress.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts: The Revolt of the Admirals<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>When:<\/strong> 1949<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Trigger:<\/strong> Cancellation of the supercarrier USS United States (CVA-58), 23 April 1949<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Cancelled by:<\/strong> Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson, with President Truman's agreement<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Rival programme:<\/strong> Air Force Convair B-36 intercontinental bomber<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Key hearings:<\/strong> House Armed Services Committee, Navy testimony 6 to 17 October 1949<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Committee chair:<\/strong> Representative Carl Vinson<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Main casualty:<\/strong> Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Louis Denfeld, relieved 27 October 1949<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Outcome:<\/strong> Navy later got its supercarrier: USS Forrestal, launched 1955<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Bombs, Budgets and a New Air Force<\/h2>\r\n<p>The US Air Force became an independent service in 1947, and it came with a clear doctrine: the next war would be won by strategic bombers carrying atomic bombs. The B-36, with six piston engines and later four jets as well, could fly intercontinental missions from bases in the United States. If that was the future, the Air Force argued, expensive carriers were a luxury.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Navy saw it differently. USS United States was meant to show that carriers could deliver nuclear weapons too, with heavy bombers on a flush deck with no island and fighters to escort them. Defence budgets were shrinking fast, and both services knew there was not enough money for everything.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Louis Johnson, who became Secretary of Defense in March 1949, sided with the bomber. On 23 April he cancelled the carrier, five days after its keel had been laid. Navy Secretary John L. Sullivan resigned in protest within days.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/uss-united-states-cva-58-keel-laying-newport-news.jpg\" alt=\"Workmen lay the keel plate of USS United States (CVA-58) at Newport News\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Workmen lay the keel plate of USS United States (CVA-58) in a construction dry dock at Newport News. The carrier was cancelled five days after her keel was laid in April 1949. U.S. Navy photo, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Billion-Dollar Blunder?<\/h2>\r\n<p>The fight soon turned ugly. An \"anonymous document\" circulated in Washington calling the B-36 a \"billion-dollar blunder\" and pointing out that Johnson had previously been connected to Convair, the bomber's manufacturer. Its author turned out to be Cedric R. Worth, a former Navy commander working as a civilian assistant to the Under Secretary of the Navy. He was dismissed after a naval court of inquiry.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The Navy also argued that the B-36 was not the invincible bomber the Air Force claimed. Captain Arleigh Burke's analysts pointed out that the Navy's new McDonnell F2H Banshee jet fighter could already reach the altitudes needed to intercept a bomber like the B-36, and that any serious enemy would soon have similar fighters. In that case, B-36s would need long-range escorts the Air Force did not have.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Morale in the naval aviation community collapsed. Vice Admiral Gerald Bogan wrote a memo that leaked to the press.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Lower today than at any time since I entered the commissioned ranks in 1916.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Vice Admiral Gerald F. Bogan<\/strong> &mdash; US Navy, memo of 1949<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/mcdonnell-f2h-1-banshee-in-flight-1949.jpg\" alt=\"McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee in flight around 1949\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A McDonnell F2H-1 Banshee around 1949. The Navy argued its new jet fighters could intercept a bomber like the B-36. U.S. Navy photo, public domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Testimony in October<\/h2>\r\n<p>The House Armed Services Committee, chaired by Representative Carl Vinson, held hearings on the B-36 and on unification of the services in two phases. In the second, from 6 to 17 October 1949, a parade of senior Navy officers testified. Captain John G. Crommelin had already gone public, telling reporters that unification was a mistake and that the Navy was being deliberately weakened. The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Louis Denfeld, backed his officers in his own testimony.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That decision cost him his job. On 27 October 1949, Navy Day, President Truman relieved Denfeld. Crommelin was later forced to retire. The committee condemned Denfeld's removal as a reprisal for his testimony and, in its report, made a point about the role of Congress.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;National defense is not strictly an executive department undertaking.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>House Armed Services Committee<\/strong> &mdash; Report on the 1949 hearings<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nNSteKAKP9E\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:6px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">The National Naval Aviation Museum Foundation on the Revolt of the Admirals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Korea Settled the Argument<\/h2>\r\n<p>The Navy lost the battle of 1949 and won the argument within a year. When North Korea invaded the South on 25 June 1950, it was not the nuclear war the B-36 had been built for. Carrier aircraft were among the first American air power over the peninsula, with USS Valley Forge striking Pyongyang on 3 July 1950. Truman wanted a naval blockade of North Korea, but after the cuts it could at first be imposed only on paper.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Three days before the invasion, on 22 June 1950, Johnson had already approved a new supercarrier. In September Truman asked for his resignation and replaced him with George C. Marshall. The carrier Johnson approved became USS Forrestal, launched in October 1955: an angled-deck, steam-catapult supercarrier able to operate heavy nuclear bombers, and the ancestor of every American supercarrier since.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The B-36 never dropped a bomb in anger and was retired by 1959. The admirals who revolted lost their careers, but the carrier they fought for is still at the centre of American power at sea.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DE_o3v_Hg2o\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:6px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">The story of the Convair B-36, the giant bomber at the heart of the 1949 fight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0 8px\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i1D0deXVHqI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin:6px 0 24px;font-style:italic\">USS Forrestal, the supercarrier the Navy finally got after the Revolt of the Admirals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Wikipedia (Revolt of the Admirals; USS United States (CVA-58); Convair B-36 Peacemaker); House Armed Services Committee; Naval History and Heritage Command.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was the Revolt of the Admirals?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Revolt of the Admirals was a 1949 political battle in which senior US Navy officers publicly opposed Defense Secretary Louis Johnson's cancellation of the supercarrier USS United States and challenged the Air Force's reliance on the B-36 bomber for nuclear strikes. It culminated in House hearings in October 1949.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was USS United States (CVA-58) cancelled?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson cancelled USS United States on 23 April 1949, five days after her keel was laid, with President Truman's agreement. Johnson favoured the Air Force's B-36 strategic bomber over a carrier designed to launch nuclear-capable bombers.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Could Navy fighters intercept the B-36?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Navy argued they could. Captain Arleigh Burke's analysts pointed out that the Navy's McDonnell F2H Banshee jet fighter could reach the altitudes needed to intercept bombers like the B-36, and that enemy fighters would soon do the same, so B-36s would need long-range escorts.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened to Admiral Louis Denfeld?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Admiral Louis Denfeld, the Chief of Naval Operations, supported his officers during the October 1949 hearings. President Truman relieved him on 27 October 1949, Navy Day. The House Armed Services Committee condemned his removal as a reprisal for his testimony.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Did the US Navy ever get its supercarrier?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. After the Korean War began in June 1950, the case for carriers was proven. Louis Johnson approved a new supercarrier on 22 June 1950, which became USS Forrestal, launched in October 1955 as the first of the modern American supercarriers.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Revolt of the Admirals?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Revolt of the Admirals was a 1949 political battle in which senior US Navy officers publicly opposed Defense Secretary Louis Johnson's cancellation of the supercarrier USS United States and challenged the Air Force's reliance on the B-36 bomber for nuclear strikes. It culminated in House hearings in October 1949.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was USS United States (CVA-58) cancelled?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson cancelled USS United States on 23 April 1949, five days after her keel was laid, with President Truman's agreement. Johnson favoured the Air Force's B-36 strategic bomber over a carrier designed to launch nuclear-capable bombers.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Could Navy fighters intercept the B-36?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Navy argued they could. Captain Arleigh Burke's analysts pointed out that the Navy's McDonnell F2H Banshee jet fighter could reach the altitudes needed to intercept bombers like the B-36, and that enemy fighters would soon do the same, so B-36s would need long-range escorts.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened to Admiral Louis Denfeld?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Admiral Louis Denfeld, the Chief of Naval Operations, supported his officers during the October 1949 hearings. President Truman relieved him on 27 October 1949, Navy Day. The House Armed Services Committee condemned his removal as a reprisal for his testimony.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the US Navy ever get its supercarrier?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. After the Korean War began in June 1950, the case for carriers was proven. Louis Johnson approved a new supercarrier on 22 June 1950, which became USS Forrestal, launched in October 1955 as the first of the modern American supercarriers.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/convair-b-36-peacemaker-six-turning-four-burning-history\/\">Six Turning, Four Burning: The Story of the B-36 Peacemaker<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/ficon-grb-36-rf-84k-parasite-fighter\/\">The Fighter That Lived Inside a Bomber<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/convair-nb-36h-nuclear-reactor-bomber-cold-war\/\">The B-36 That Flew With a Live Nuclear Reactor<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story On 18 April 1949, workers at Newport News, Virginia, laid the keel of the biggest warship the US Navy had ever ordered: USS United States, a flush-decked supercarrier built to launch bombers big enough to carry atomic weapons. Five days later, the new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, cancelled her. What [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":27869189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27869296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Revolt of the Admirals: The US Navy vs the B-36 | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1949 the US Navy lost its supercarrier to the B-36 and its admirals took the fight to Congress. 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