U.S. Navy photograph

Rear Admiral George R. Henderson, U.S. Navy

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NOTE:  Of the six Rear Admirals that served at Samar, Admiral Henderson has the least amount of information available.  Therefore this page is still a work in progress.

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RANK	DATES	DUTY STATION/EVENT
-	-	Born in
ENS	-	Student at U.S. Naval Academy Annapolis
LTJG	1920s	Naval Aviation Preflight Indoctrination, NAS Pensacola, Florida
LTJG	1920s	Naval Flight Training, NAS Pensacola, Florida
-	1930s	USS LANGLEY (CV-1) and LEXINGTON (CV-2)
CDR	1942	USS HORNET (CV-8) at "Doolittle Raid"
CAPT	1943	USS PRINCETON (CVL-23) at Rabaul
RADM	1944	COMCARDIV 28 with flag in USS SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82) at Palau
RADM	1944	COMCARDIV 28 with flag in USS SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82) at Leyte
RADM	1945	COMCARDIV 28 with flag in USS SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82) at Lingayen
RADM	1945	COMCARDIV 25 with flag in USS SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82) at Iwo Jima
RADM	1945	COMCARDIV 25 with flag in USS MAKIN ISLAND (CVE-93) at Okinawa
RADM	-	Post World War 2?
RADM	1950	USS CONSOLATION (AH-15) at Korean War
RADM	1951	Commander Carrier Division 5 at Korean War
RADM	1951	Commander Task Force 77 at Korean War
RADM	1951	USS PRINCETON (CV-37) at Korean War
RADM	1953	Eleventh Naval District
RADM	1953	Training Station, Lake Bluff, Illinois
-	-	Retired from Service
-	-	Died

Short biography of Rear Admiral George R. Henderson, U.S. Navy George R. Henderson was born on ??? in ????. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and was commissioned an Ensign. In the early 1920s he attended flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and was designated a Naval Aviator. On October 25, 1924, Lieutenant George R. Henderson, in a PN-7 flying boat equipped with two Wright T-2 engines, set four records for speed over 100 and 200 kilometers with loads of 250 and 500 kilograms, all at 78.507 mph; and four records with a useful load of 1,000 kilograms with a speed of 78.507 mph for 100 and 200 kilometers, a distance record of 248.55 miles and a duration record of 5 hours, 28 minutes, 43 seconds. 1925 to 1930? In the 1930s Henderson served on the aircraft carriers LANGLEY (CV-1) and LEXINGTON (CV-2). At the start of World War 2 Commander Henderson was serving as Executive Officer of USS HORNET (CV-8). On April 18, 1942 HORNET participated in the Doolittle Raid against military and industrial targets in the Japanese home islands. Promoted to Captain, Henderson commanded the new carrier USS PRINCETON (CV-23) commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Following shakedown in the Caribbean, she was reclassified CVL-23 on July 15, 1943. PRINCETON participated in the First and Second Rabaul Air Strikes, on November 5 and 11, 1943. By mid-1944 Henderson was promoted to Rear Admiral and took command of Carrier Division 28 with his flag in the escort carrier USS SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82). Between 1944 and early 1945 he successively participated in the invasions of Palau, Leyte Gulf, and Lingayen. In February 1945 he took command of Carrier Division 25 with his flag in SAGINAW BAY (CVE-82) for the invasion of Iwo Jima. In late March 1945 he moved his flag to the escort carrier USS MAKIN ISLAND (CVE-93) for the invasion of Okinawa. 1946 to 1950? At the start of the Korean War Rear Admiral Henderson served as Engineer Officer on the hospital ship USS Consolation (AH-15) in 1950. On July 12, 1950 the command Naval Air, Japan was set up in Tokyo to provide an interim staff to administer the expanding aviation forces in the Far East, and on August 9, 1950 was formally established as Fleet Air, Japan, with Rear Admiral George R. Henderson in command. During the Korean War in May 1951 Henderson was Commander Carrier Division 5 and Commander Task Force 77. With his flag in USS PRINCETON (CV-37), he was in charge of carrier operations off Korea. In April 1953 he served as head of the Eleventh Naval District, headquartered at the Lake Training Station in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Rear Admiral Henderson retired from the Navy on ??? He died in XXXX on ???

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