Patrick Nieson Lynch Bellinger was born on the 8th of October, 1885 in Cheraw, South Carolina. In 1907, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy and started his great career.

Bellinger had several Navy firsts under his belt. He was among the first group of seven US Navy pilots to be certified. He was the first to achieve 10,000 feet in altitude in 1915. First to use catapult takeoffs at sea.

During World War I, he commanded the Naval Air Station at Hampton Roads, Viginia. After the war he tried a trans-Atlantic flight, but was forced down 100 miles west of the Azores and then was picked up by a Greek ship before the plane sunk.

October 30, 1940, he arrived in Pearl Harbor to assume his positions as a Rear Admiral. While at Pearl, he had four positions. They are:

  • Commander, Hawaiian Based Patrol Wing and Commander, Patrol Wing Two

  • Commander, Task Force Nine (Patrol Wings One and Two with attending surface craft

  • Liaison with commandant, Fourteenth Naval District

  • Commander, Naval Base Defense Air Force

  • He was responsible to the following superiors:
  • Commander, Aircraft Scouting Force (type command for patrol wings), based at San Diego

  • Commander, Scouting Force

  • CinCPAC, when commanding Task Force Nine

  • {Commander]s of Task Forces One, Two and Three for patrol planes assinged those forces

  • Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District

  • In May of 1942, he took command of all patrol wings in the Pacific and in August of the same year became Chief of Staff to CinC US Fleet. In October of '43, he was promoted to Vice Admiral.

    Bellinger retired in 1949 and died in 1962. He was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 2.

    Informations from this node was taken from http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/pnlbell.htm and also from At Dawn We Slept, The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prange.

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