Date of birth:

August 27th, 1918 (Pasadena/California, United States)

Date of death:

December 11th, 2004 (Annapolis/Maryland, United States)

Buried on:

United States Naval Academy Cemetery
Plot: Columb. 

Nationality:

American (1776 - present, Republic)

Naval Officer, Commandant of Midshipmen, College President and Maritine Educator

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Sheldon Hoard Kinney of Annapolis, Maryland, died December 11, 2004 at age 86. His 38-year naval career included distinguished combat service in three wars, and took him from Signalman to command of 125 ships and 65,000 officers and crew of the Cruiser-Destroyer Force of the Pacific Fleet. He served as the Navy’s Chief of Education & Training, as Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy, as President of the New York State Maritine College at Ft. Schuyler, and a founder and later as Rector (President) of the World Maritine University of the United Nations at Malmö, Sweden.

Admiral Kinney grew up with a love of sailing and of the deep ocean and crewed on a sailing schooner to Hawaii, so the Navy was the natural choice for a young man who wanted to see the world. His Navy career began with his enlistment in 1935 -- one year before he was to finish High School. Rear Admiral Kinney was the son of Harold S. Kinney of the Mt. Wilson Observatory and Gladys Hoard Kinney of Pasadena and Balboa Island, California.

Seaman Sheldon Kinney first served aboard the USS Omaha and then as a Signalman aboard the battleship USS New York which represented the United States at the last gathering of the world’s great Dreadnaughts for the Coronation Review at Spithead by King George VI of Great Britain.

Kinney was selected from the fleet to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in 1937. He lettered in Crew and found sailing still his first love. Upon graduation he was presented the Class of 1897 Sword now displayed with his medals at Bancroft Hall as a legacy for future Midshipmen. His class of 1941 graduated early in February 1941 for immediate sea duty with the clouds of War looming over two oceans.

Ensign Kinney reported aboard USS Sturtevant for convoy duties in the North Atlantic winter where her sister ship USS Reuben James was sunk. His ship survived being rammed at sea. On a subsequent operation Lieutenant Kinney received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Heroism for diving from his ship to rescue two downed aviators. Later, the Sturtevant was sunk and he survived by floating on a bag of whole coffee beans.

Kinney took command of the USS Edsall in 1943, becoming the youngest Commanding Officer of a destroyer-type ship. He then commissioned and took command of the USS Bronstein. The Bronstein was credited with sinking three German U Boats in one night (U-603, U-709, U-801) and putting U-441 out of action. Lt. Kinney was awarded the Navy Cross for this extended action and the USS Bronstein received a Presidential Unit Citation. Admiral Robert Carney, Chief of Naval Operations (1953-55) described the USS Bronstein’s fight that night as "the most concentrated and successful antisubmarine action by a U.S. Navy ship during World War II."

Admiral Kinney served as the Anti-Submarine Warfare officer on the staff of the Commander Destroyers Atlantic at the end of WWII. He went on to command the USS Ludlow and USS Taylor. The Taylor’s actions in the Korean War included distinguished engagements at Wonsan Harbor for which the ship was commended. He commanded the USS Mitscher, the Navy’s first guided missile Frigate, served in London on the staff of the Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe, and then commanded USS Mississinewa, Amphibious Squadron 12, and then the naval gunfire support ships of Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 11 in Operation Sea Dragon in Vietnam. Admiral Kinney’s final command was as Commander Cruiser Destroyer Forces Pacific, but his proudest moment was serving as Commandant of his beloved Naval Academy. Despite his skill and ferocity as a warrior his core sense of vocation was in training, encouraging and guiding new generations of seafarers and seakeepers.

Following his Navy retirement in 1972, Admiral Kinney served as President of the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College at Fort Schuyler for ten years. He was a founder and later Rector (President) of the World Maritime University of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations at Malmö, Sweden. He also served as Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the IMO in London, and later as a sparkplug for the Friends of the World Maritime University nonprofit foundation supporting WMU’s mission of safer seas and cleaner oceans in developing maritime countries. A Doctoral Fellowship as well as a Memorial Prize Lecture with bronze medallion have been established at WMU in his honor.

While he never finished High School, RADM Kinney held a B.S. in Marine Engineering from the Naval Academy, as well as two Masters degrees and his Juris Doctor (Order of the Coif) from George Washington University. He served as Editor of the Naval Institute Proceedings, as Ordnance and Gunnery instructor and later Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. He was a 1960 graduate of the National War College.

Admiral Kinney was an enthusiastic member of the Deer Isle (Maine) Yacht Club, the Cruising Club of America and the New York Yacht Club and helped organize two defenses of the Americas Cup. A sheltered mooring with the pennants of the three clubs will be established in Penobscot Bay to carry on his tradition of friendship and hospitality to his fellow sailors.

Admiral Kinney’s other brother Gilbert had also joined the Navy in the 1930s and lies entombed to this day at his duty station aboard the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Lieutenant

Unit:

U.S.S. Bronstein (DE-189), U.S. Navy

Awarded on:

June 19th, 1956

Citation:
"For extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Bronstein (DE-189), in action against enemy forces on the night of 29 February - 1 March 1944, in the Atlantic. Detecting the swift and unopposed approach of U-441 toward the vulnerable forces of his search group, Commander Kinney speedily maneuvered for a daring short-range attack and, skillfully directing his gunfire, scored hits on the conning tower, causing the enemy submarine to halt its approach and to submerge. After avoiding two torpedoes launched against his vessel, Commander Kinney proceeded to conduct an underwater weapons attack which inflicted extensive damage upon the U-boat and forced its return to a repair base. Subsequently, he encountered U-709 by sonar and succeeded in sinking this submarine with the assistance of two other vessels. In the final action of the night, he detected U-603 which was in a position favorable to the firing of torpedoes at a friendly aircraft carrier. Immediately launching a formidable attack with depth bombs, he forced the U-boat to defensive action, regained contact after the initial onslaught and pressed home strikes to sink the submarine despite temporary disablement of his vessel by the explosion of an acoustic torpedo in the wake. By his outstanding professional skill, courage and determined efforts throughout a four and one-half hour period, Commander Kinney was directly instrumental in saving three friendly vessels from probable torpedoing, in destroying two enemy submarines and in seriously damaging a third. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

Approved by the Board for the Correction of Naval Records on June 19, 1956
At the time of the awarding, Kinney held the rank of Commander.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Lieutenant

Unit:

U.S.S. Sturtevant (DD-240), U.S. Navy

Awarded on:

June 19th, 1956

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

For perilous convoy protection runs to Murmansk and the northern ports of Russia.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

"For spiriting the treasury of the government in gold bullion across the submarine-infested Atlantic one league ahead of the Nazis from Dakar to New York City for safekeeping."

With swords

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

With "Combat V" device

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Korean War (1950-1953)

• Photo 1: Bruce kinney
• - Sterner C.D., Recipients of The Navy Cross, 1916 - Present
  - Find a Grave
  - The Military Times Hall of Valor
  

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