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Contact Info
Home Town Winchester
Last Address U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland
Date of Passing Nov 11, 1954
Location of Interment U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium (VLM) - Annapolis, Maryland
His military awards and decorations include the Navy Cross, awarded for exceptionally meritorious service as commandant of midshipmen at the US Naval Academy and later as commanding officer of the USS Pennsylvania, the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Spanish-American War Service Medal, and World War I Victory Medal.. As commander of the battleship divisions of the Pacific Fleet in 1929, he was commended in a letter from President Herbert Hoover for "attaining the highest merit in battle efficiency of any division of its class."
Graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1889. Executive officer of Admiral Dewey's Flagship at the battle of Manila Bay in 1898. He was Superintendent of the Naval Academy, 1925-1928. Promoted to Admiral in 1929 and retired in 1933.
Other Comments:
FLAG OFFICER
He became commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard on September 22, 1920 and was promoted to rear admiral the following year. In late 1921, he unsuccessfully tried to save the partially completed battlecruiser Constitution (CC-5) from being scrapped by accelerating its construction schedule using funds he had illegally transferred from the construction and repair of other vessels, and by lobbying for Constitution's conversion into an aircraft carrier.
He was sent to sea in 1923 as commander of Battleship Division Three (New York, Texas, Oklahoma, Nevada). He was superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from February 1925 to June 1928.[3] In spring 1928, he was again ordered to sea as Commander Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet (COMBATDIVS), with the temporary rank of vice admiral, flying his three-star flag aboard the battleship West Virginia[2] from June 26, 1928 to May 20, 1929.
He was promoted to the temporary rank of full admiral as Commander Battle Fleet (COMBATFLT) on May 21, 1929, succeeding Admiral William V. Pratt, who had been elevated to Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (CINCUS). As COMBATFLT, Nulton was the second most senior officer afloat, and selected the battleship California as his new flagship as a compliment to that state. On January 9, 1930, Pratt sailed from New York as a delegate to the London Naval Conference, leaving Nulton to act in his stead from the date of Pratt's departure until his return in May 1930. As acting CINCUS, Nulton commanded the combined fleets during the winter maneuvers in the Caribbean.[6] Relieved by Admiral Frank H. Schofield on May 24, 1930, Nulton reverted to his permanent rank of rear admiral and was assigned as commandant of the First Naval District. He retired from the Navy on September 1, 1933 upon reaching the statutory retirement age.
Other Memories He was born in Winchester, Virginia to Annie Clark and Colonel Joseph Nulton, a prominent Virginian who commanded Confederate troops during the American Civil War and subsequently commanded for many years the Old Second Virginia Regiment, National Guard. Appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1885 at the age of 16, he graduated seventh in the class of 1889 and served his initial sea duty as a passed cadet aboard the protected cruiser Chicago.
