Henry Maston Mullinnix
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Henry Maston Mullinnix was born on 4 July 1892 in Spencer, Clark County, IN. He graduated from Attica High School, class of 1909, as senior class president.

In 1916, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served in the destroyer USS Balch (DD-50), engaged in patrol and escort duty off Ireland during World War I. Following service in USS Gridley (DD-92) and USS Brooks (DD-232), he completed work in Aeronautical Engineering at Annapolis and MIT, receiving an M.S. degree in 1923. After flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL, he was designated a Naval Aviator on 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 USS Saratoga (CV-3), USS Wright (AV-1), and commanded USS Albemarle (AV-5), from 1924-41.

He served various duties to include Aircraft Scout Commander and Executive Officer of the Fleet Air Base, Pearl Harbor. At the outbreak of World War II, he served as Air Officer, Eastern Sea Frontier and aboard the USS Saratoga as Commander of a Carrier Division with the rank of Rear Admiral in 1942.

In October 1943, he was placed in command of Carrier Air Support Task Group 52.3, for the Invasion of the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific. His duty was to direct the air support for the U.S. Marine landings on Tarawa and Makin Islands, from his flagship the USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56). On 24 November, the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. Mullinnix and 645 crewmen were lost and declared dead a year later.

Medals and Awards

Legion of Merit
Purple Heart Medal
Navy Commendation Medal

Honors

The destroyer USS Mullinnix (DD-944) was commissioned and named in his honor in March 1957.

Death

Rear Admiral Henry Maston Mullinnix was lost at sea on 24 November 1943 near Kiribati. His name, and those of his men, is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI.