In response to an Army Air Corps request on February 25, 1941, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics established a Special Committee on Jet Propulsion. Westinghouse's proposal for development of a turbojet was followed on November 5, 1941 by a Navy request for a proposal for a design study. On December 8, 1941, the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Westinghouse seized the initiative and started development of its engine without an official contract. On January 7, 1942, the Navy issued Westinghouse a letter of intent to proceed with a study of its turbojet, and development of the 19A began at the Westinghouse Steam Division.

The 19A Yankee (military designation J30), the first all-American-designed turbojet engine, ran for the first time on March 19, 1943. This, the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics No. 2 Westinghouse 19A engine, was flown on a Chance Vought FG-1 Corsair test-bed aircraft on January 21, 1944 in its original function as a booster engine.