Patrick Nieson Lynch Bellinger CBE (October 8, 1885 – May 30, 1962) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral.

Bellinger completed one year at Clemson in electrical engineering, before received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in July 1903.

[5][6] He graduated as passed midshipman with Bachelor of Science degree on June 6, 1907, and was assigned to newly commissioned battleship USS Vermont.

Bellinger took part in a cruise around the world with the Great White Fleet, visiting the Port of Spain, Rio de Janeiro and Punta Arenas.

During the stop in San Francisco in May 1908, he was transferred to the battleship USS Wisconsin and continued in the cruise, visiting Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Manila, Yokohama, Colombo, Suez Canal, Port Said, Gibraltar and then crossed the Atlantic to return to Hampton Roads in February 1909.

[2][5] Bellinger was ordered to cruiser USS Montgomery for instruction in torpedoes in March 1909 and was commissioned ensign on June 7, 1909, after serving two years at sea then required by law.

Bellinger then took part in the cruise to Europe with stops at Cherbourg, France, and at the Isle of Portland and after which South Carolina returned to the United States for maintenance.

The South Carolina then returned with the Atlantic Fleet to Europe, visiting Copenhagen, Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden; and Kronstadt, Russia and Kiel, Germany, where Bellinger was charmed by a plane flying over the harbor.

[2][5] After return stateside and naval review in New York City, Bellinger asked his old superior officer, Thomas Craven, who was now in Washington, D.C., to be assigned for aviation training.

[2][5] He then assumed command of training submarine USS C-4 and sailed to Greenbury Point Aviation Experimental Camp across the Severn River from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

In May 1913, Bellinger was together with Lieutenant Holden C. Richardson ordered to Burgess Company in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to test a new flying boat being built for the Navy.

[2][5][7] On January 10, 1914, Bellinger together with Lieutenants John H. Towers and Henry C. Mustin arrived to Pensacola, Florida, where they established first Naval aviation training station.

Bellinger remained in that assignment until mid-April 1914, when he assumed command of Aviation Section aboard battleship USS Mississippi.

Unfortunately bad weather and high seas forced the crews of NC-1 (Bellinger) and NC-3 (Towers) to abort the mission and regretfully left their plane which sank.

The NC-4 (Read) continued the mission and as the only plane reached successfully the original target, when arrived at the town of Horta on Faial Island in the Azores on May 17, 1919.

[2][4][5] Although Bellinger and his crew did not complete the flight, he was cited for its vigorous effort and an outstanding example of heroic persistence in face of nature's worst odds.

During October and November 1920, he served as the naval observer of the army's bombing of the obsolete battleship USS Indiana in Tangier Sound in the Chesapeake Bay and later served as Naval Observer during the bombing of the former German battleship Ostfriesland, which was sunk by Army Brigadier General Billy Mitchell's planes in the Atlantic Ocean a few miles off the Virginia Capes in July 1921.

[2][3][5] Bellinger was meanwhile transferred to the newly established Bureau of Aeronautics under Rear admiral William A. Moffett, where he remained until October 1921, when he joined Aircraft Squadrons, Pacific Fleet.

Bellinger later became executive officer of that vessel and was detached in September 1924 in order to enter instruction at Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Also, the experimental test and repair facilities at Naval Air Station Norfolk that Bellinger had taken command of in 1918 were firmly established.

[3][5] In June 1931, Bellinger returned to the United States and assumed command of aircraft tender USS Wright, where he served several years before.

[3][5] One year later, Bellinger was appointed Commanding officer of aircraft carrier USS Ranger, serving with the Atlantic Fleet until June 1937, when transferred to duty as Chief of Staff and Aide to Commander, Aircraft, Battle Force, and Carrier Division One, United States Fleet under Vice admiral Frederick J.

The aircraft under his command were used for the Neutrality Patrols within a line extending east from Boston to 65 degrees west and thence south to the 19th parallel and seaward around the Leeward and Windward Islands.

[3][5] Bellinger was promoted to Rear admiral on December 1, 1940, and assumed command of Patrol Wing Two based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

[3][4][5] The major problem of the Atlantic Fleet were German U-boats, which threatened allied supply convoys and sunk more than 5.7 million tons of merchant shipping.

Bellinger also testified before the Roberts Commissions convened to investigate the facts surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

[3][5] Vice admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger died following a series of heart attacks on May 30, 1962, aged 76 at Clifton Forge, Virginia.