Henry M. Mullinnix

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Maston Mullinnix (4 July 1892 – 24 November 1943) was an aviator and admiral of the United States Navy during World War II.

Mullinnix, born 4 July 1892, in Spencer, Ind., graduated from Attica Indiana High School, class of 1909. He was president of his senior class. He later graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1916. He served in Balch (DD-50), engaged in patrol and escort duty off Ireland during World War I. Following service in Gridley (DD-92) and Brooks (DD-232), he completed work in aeronautical engineering at Annapolis and MIT, receiving an M.S. degree in 1923. After flight training at Pensacola, Fla., he was designated a naval aviator 11 January 1924. He was one of those mainly responsible for developing the air-cooled engine for naval aircraft. Besides various shore duty, he served in Saratoga (CV-3), Wright (AV-1), and commanded Albemarle (AV-5), between 1924 and 1941.

Mullinnix commanded Saratoga from April 1943, until 22 August, when he was transferred to duty with a carrier division, with the rank of rear admiral. Rear Admiral Mullinnix was on board Liscome Bay (CVE-56) when she was torpedoed and sunk off Makin Island, in the Gilberts, 24 November 1943. Declared dead a year later, he was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit in recognition of his “outstanding initiative and superior executive ability.”

In 1957, the destroyer USS Mullinnix (DD-944) was named in his honor.