Mullins  1931-1936

Mullins Manufacturing Corporation is probably best remembered by auto enthusiasts for producing the Red Cap two-wheeled trailer, a handsome, streamlined piece of work built only in 1936 and '37. The population at large is more likely to recall the company's Youngstown line of metal kitchen cabinets. Mullins, however, dated back to 1882 and began producing steel boats not long after its founding. Steel may seem counterintuitive for a lightweight pleasure craft, but Mullins boats were constructed of double-galvanized steel stampings with integrated flotation tanks to make them virtually unsinkable.

In 1927, engineers at the company's Boat Division, in Salem, Ohio, came up with the idea for the steel-hulled Sea Eagle inboard runabout. They wanted a low-cost runabout that was reliable and stylish. The idea remained under development until the onset of the Great Depression caused a major shakeup at Mullins.

The Sea Eagle debuted with the 1931 Mullins line, which also included the Dolphin utility runabout, the Lark (a beefed-up rowboat designed to mount an outboard), and the Prince rowboat. The 15- foot 6-inch Sea Eagle replaced Mullins' Sea Hawk line of the 1920s, which used a similar hydroplane hull made with corrugations astern.

Hull corrugations served to increase the surface area, making for easier plaining and better stability, thanks to reduced sideslip. The big difference from the Sea Hawk to the Sea Eagle was that the Hawks were outboard powered, and the Eagle was designed to use inboard engines of up to 75 horsepower.

Factory equipment in the 1931 Mullins Sea Eagle was a 40-hp Lycoming four-cylinder, capable of propelling the 1,385-pound boat to 30 mph. Engineless hulls were available at a discount for enterprising do-it-yourselfers wishing to provide their own motive power—and many did, utilizing marinized Continental Red Seal engines and even modified Ford V-8 passenger-car engines.

Mullins itself ceased producing boats in 1936, four years after the death of the company's founder, but Sea Eagle production continued at a new facility in Oil City, Pennsylvania. This new company re-branded itself as the Mullins-Champion Boat Company in 1943, but the boat line did not return after World War II.

From Hemmings article 09/2018