Saufley was born on 1 September 1884 at
Stanford,
Kentucky. He graduated from the
United States Naval Academy in June 1908 and was
commissioned as an
ensign in June 1910. He served aboard the
battleship , the
torpedo boat , and the
destroyer before reporting to the Naval Aviation Camp on the grounds of the Naval Academy in
Annapolis,
Maryland, for training in aviation in 1913. On 6 June of that year, he was promoted to
Lieutenant, junior grade, and designated Naval Aviator No. 14. During the
Veracruz campaign of 1914 in
Mexico, Saufley was attached to the battleship and the
armored cruiser . In 1915 and 1916, Saufleys assignments were concerned with the technological development of naval aviation. Concentrating on "hydro-aeroplane" (
seaplane) development, he set altitude and endurance records and was attempting to better his own record when he died in a plane crash on
Santa Rosa Island on a flight out of the
Naval Aeronautic Station at
Pensacola,
Florida on 9 June 1916. His
Curtiss Model E hydroplane,
AH-8, went down at the 8-hour-51-minute mark of the flight. The Aeronautic Stations commandant,
Commander Henry C. Mustin, later faced accusations that his "wrong flying instruction methods" had caused the deaths of Saufley and another aviator, Lieutenant, junior grade, James V. Rockwell. Saufley is buried at Stanford Cemetery in Stanford, Kentucky. == Commemoration ==