Paul X. Rinn

Captain Paul X. Rinn, USN (Ret.), was the first Commanding officer of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) and was in command when the ship struck a mine in the Persian Gulf on April 14, 1988.

Background
Rinn was born in the Bronx in 1946. His father was a law school graduate and his mother was a grade school teacher. His older brother Greg was also a naval officer and inspired Rinn to follow in his footsteps. He attended an all-boys Roman Catholic high school in the Bronx Mount Saint Michael Academy graduating in 1964. He then attended Marist College graduating in 1968.

Career
Rinn received his commission in 1968 through the Navy's Reserve Officer Candidate program at Navy Officer Candidate School. He served on USS Sarsfield (DD-837), a more than 20 years old at the time. In the early 1970s, Rinn worked as a counter insurgency adviser and military trainer along the Mekong River and was involved in combat on land. He was the weapons officer on USS Blakely (FF-1072), a. From 1976 through 1979 he served as Operations and Tactics Officer First Canadian Destroyer Squadron. In 1980 -81 He attended and graduated from the Naval War College with distinction. He then served as Executive officer on USS Bowen (FF-1079), another Knox-class frigate. Rinn was chief staff officer of Destroyer Squadron 36.from 1982 to 84

As a Commander, he was selected to command Samuel B. Roberts and was involved in her construction at Bath Iron Works as early as fall 1984. She was commissioned April 12, 1986 with Rinn commanding. Only months after the mining of FFG-58, he turned over Samuel B. Roberts to CDR John Townes III on June 20, 1988 at the end of his tour as previously planned.

Following his tour on Samuel B. Roberts, he headed up the navy's ship survivability program. Later, he was promoted to Captain and served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Surface Warafre. In 1994, he commanded USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55), a named for the battle in which the first USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was sunk. He deployed to the Persian Gulf on Leyte Gulf and received the United States Navy League's John Paul Jones Leadership Award. Following his tour on CG-55, he served as special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations., Rinn retired in 1997. He then took an executive position at a consulting firm in the Washington D.C. area. Rinn was recently inducted into the Surface Warfare Hall of Fame.