Richard Alden Hoffman

Captain, U.S. Navy

Richard Alden Hoffman was born on 20 June 1926 in San Francisco, CA.

After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy with the Class of 1948, Hoffman attended flight school and was designated a Naval Aviator.

During the Korean War he piloted Martin PBM Mariners as well as other flying boats and amphibians. As a test pilot, he worked on the P-3 Orion submarine hunter trials and later commanded Patrol Squadron Eight.

Hoffman held a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and a Master's degree in Seaplane Hydrodynamics from Stephens Institute of Technology.

After retiring from the Navy as a Captain, he worked for Martin Marietta Aerospace. Later in life, he wrote a number of books on naval aviation history, the most significant of which is a definitive history of the PBM Mariner titled "The Fighting Flying Boat" published by the prestigious Naval Institute Press.

Death and Burial

Captain Richard Alden Hoffman died on 24 June 2011 in LaJolla, CA. He is inurned at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery Columbarium in Annapolis, MD, in Plot: 37-2-H

He is survived by six children from a previous marriage, and his wife, Dorothy Hoffman, of La Jolla.

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