Herbert Charles Rodd (4 September 1894 – 15 June 1932) was an American naval aviator. He served as the radio officer on the first successful transatlantic flight by the Curtiss NC-4 in May 1919 and later helped set additional world seaplane records for flight payload, duration and speed.
Rodd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 4 September 1894. He joined the United States Navy on 9 April 1917 as an enlisted seaman but was granted a provisional ensign's commission on 20 August 1918.
After World War I, the U.S. Navy planned a transatlantic crossing by a division of four Curtiss NC flying boats. Rodd helped to develop the radio compass for these aircraft. Three flying boats began the journey on 8 May 1919, but only the NC-4 completed the trip successfully. In the aftermath, he was made a knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword by the Portuguese government on 2 June 1919. As a member of the NC-4 crew, he was awarded the Navy Cross and later received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1929.
In 1925, Connell was the pilot on Commander John Rodgers's 1925 attempt to fly from California to Hawaii in a Naval Aircraft Factory PN-9 flying boat.
On 15–16 August 1927, Lieutenants Rodd and Byron James Connell (12 August 1894 – 30 January 1972) flew a Naval Aircraft Factory PN-10 flying boat for 20 hours 45 minutes 40 seconds on a triangular course until their fuel tanks ran dry. Their flight with Aviation Machinist's Mate Comar Vincent and a cargo of of sand covered . The 1927 flight by Rodd and Connell set a new world record for average speed over a distance by a seaplane of .
Lieutenant Commander Rodd died in the crash of a Vought O2U Corsair floatplane near Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 15 June 1932. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Legacy The former Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Rodd Field near Corpus Christi, Texas, was named in honor of Rodd. It operated from 7 June 1941 through the late 1950s. Texas State Highway 357 in Corpus Christi still is named Rodd Field Road.
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