Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson, was a British naval aviation pioneer. He was one of the first four officers selected for pilot training by the Royal Navy and was the first person to fly an aircraft from a moving ship. He also commanded the first British armoured vehicles used in combat. Transferring to the Royal Air Force on its creation in 1918, Samson held command of several groups in the immediate post-war period and the 1920s.

Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.