Henry M. Mullinnix

Henry Maston Mullinnix (July 4, 1892 – November 24, 1943) was a United States Navy aviator and admiral who served in World War I and World War II. Mullinnix was killed in action while commanding a Navy escort carrier division and task force group when his flagship, the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56), was sunk by a Japanese submarine near the Gilbert Islands during World War II. He was the fourth of five US Navy admirals killed in battle during WWII, including: Isaac C. Kidd (1941, Attack on Pearl Harbor); Norman Scott and Daniel J. Callaghan (same day, 1942, Naval Battle of Guadalcanal); and Theodore E. Chandler (1945, invasion of Lingayen Gulf).

Biography Mullinnix was born in Spencer, Indiana in 1892. He was president of his senior class at Attica High School where his father was a Principal, graduating in 1909. He graduated first in his class from the United States Naval Academy in 1916. He served in the destroyer , engaged in patrol and escort duty off Ireland during World War I. Following service in and , 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, Florida, he was designated a naval aviator on January 11, 1924. He was one of those mainly responsible for developing the air-cooled engine for naval aircraft. Besides various shore duty, he served in , , and commanded , between 1924 and 1941. On November 13, 1942, he was promoted to rear admiral.

Mullinnix commanded Saratoga from April 1943, until August 22, when he was transferred to duty with a carrier division. On November 24, Rear Admiral Mullinnix was on board his flagship (under the command of Captain Irving Wiltsie) commanding Carrier Division 24 and Task Group 52.3 (Air Support Group of Northern Attack Force (Makin)-Task Group 52) when the escort carrier/flagship which had just participated in the Battle of Makin was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk off Makin Island, in the Gilbert Islands.

Namesake In 1957, the destroyer was named in his honor.