Allen B. Reed

Allen B. Reed

Capt. Allen B. Reed, Sr.
Born (1884-04-03)April 3, 1884
Liberty, Missouri
Died February 28, 1965(1965-02-28) (aged 80)
Bethesda, Maryland
Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery[1]
Allegiance  United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service 1904–1941 (37 Years)
Rank Captain
Commands held USS Paragua
USS Iris
USS Susquehanna
USS Worden
Division 30, Destroyer Squadron 11 Battle Fleet
Division 45, Destroyer Squadron 11 Battle Fleet
USS New Orleans
Battles/wars Philippines- Moro Rebellion
First Nicaraguan Campaign
Mexico Service
World War I
Awards Navy Cross
Other work Todd Shipyards
Charleston Naval Shipyard
New York Shipbuilding Corporation

Captain Allen Bevins Reed (April 3, 1884 – February 28, 1965)[1] was a U.S. Naval officer whose 30-year span of ship-commands began on a patrol gunboat fighting pirates and Moro rebels in the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century and ended as the plank owner commanding officer of the newly commissioned heavy cruiser USS New Orleans (CA-32) in the 1930s. In the latter years of his naval career, Reed was attached to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations where his assignments included Director of Fleet Maintenance Division, Assistant to the Chairman of the U.S. Maritime Commission and navy liaison to the Office of Production Management before he went on retired inactive status in 1941, three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Naval Academy

USNA Gymnastics Team, 1904. A.B. Reed, seated, second from right; H.E. Kimmel, seated, second from left
USNA First Class Cadet Petty Officers, 1904. A.B. Reed, seated, front row, center[2]

Reed entered the United States Naval Academy (USNA) on September 22, 1900, as one of 93 fourth class naval cadets.[3] On July 1, 1902, the Academy changed the title of "naval cadet" to "midshipman".[4] While at Annapolis, Reed was on the track, gymnastics and football teams.[5] Reed's fellow graduates of the Naval Academy class of 1904 included future Admiral William S. "Bull" Halsey, Jr.[6][7]

Completing his academic studies at the Naval Academy, Reed received his warrant as a passed midshipman. On January 25, 1904 he was detached from Annapolis "to home and ready for sea".[8] At that time, passed midshipmen were required to successfully complete two years sea duty before being commissioned as an ensign.[9]

U.S. Naval service

Early career

Midshipman Allen B. Reed in 1904[5]

On March 21, 1904, Reed reported for duty aboard the school ship USS Mohican.[10] He was a passed midshipman in 1905 on the gunboat, USS Paragua[11][12] of the Asiatic Fleet.[12][13] Ensign Reed was on the protected cruiser USS Baltimore (C-3), cruising Asiatic, Philippine and Australian waters through April 1907.[14][15] By mid-June 1907, Reed was assigned to the protected cruiser USS Charleston (C-22) of the Pacific Fleet Second Squadron Third Division.[16][17]

On October 13, 1909, it was reported that Reed was a lieutenant and senior engineer on the USS Albany (CL-23). He was an escort to Imperial Japanese Navy Captain Takeshita Isamu of the Idzumo, a Japanese warship during a ceremonial visit to the mayor of San Francisco and a festival[18] on October 19, 1909 that was attended by captains of warships from Holland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.[19]

He was stationed at the Navy Yard at Mare Island beginning May 4, 1910.[20] While at Mare Island, Reed became a member of the Naval Board of Inquiry that convened to investigate fraud involving naval Paymaster Arthur M. Pippin and two others.[21][22][23] The men were court-martialed and sentenced to hard labor at San Quentin.[24][25]

USS Denver ship's landing force under Lt. A. B. Reed rests beside the Corinto, Nicaragua railroad line, 1912

By June 26, 1912, Lieutenant Reed was detached from Mare Island to the protected cruiser, USS Denver (CL-16), as executive officer.[26] On July 9, his orders were changed to duty as navigator.[27] On August 29, 1912, a landing force of 120 men under the command of Lt. Reed was landed from Denver at Corinto to protect the railway line running from Corinto to Managua and then south to Granada on the north shore of Lake Nicaragua. This landing party reembarked aboard ship October 24 and 25th, 1912.[28]

Reed's next assignment after being detached from Denver on May 23, 1913 at San Diego, was to the Pacific Torpedo Flotilla tender, USS Iris, as executive officer and navigator.[29][30] Reed detached from Iris on June 3, 1915. He had requested transfer to the recently opened Panama Canal (1914) where he served from July 8, 1915 to August 1, 1917 as only the second Captain of the Port at Balboa, the Pacific canal terminus, replacing Commander Henry V. Butler.[31][32][33]

World War I

Temporarily promoted to commander on February 1, 1918[34] during World War I, Reed served first as executive officer and later as commanding officer of the USS Susquehanna (ID-3016), the former German liner, SS Rhein, a troop transport that made seven transatlantic crossings carrying over 18,000 American troops to Europe and bringing over 15,000 troops home after the Armistice. Reed was awarded the Navy Cross in 1920 "for distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the USS Susquehanna, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies to European ports through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines."[35]

USS New Orleans

When the New Orleans made its first visit to the port of New Orleans in the spring of 1935, Reed was the subject of some celebration. On March 30, 1935, Louisiana Governor Oscar K. Allen presented Reed and the ship with the silver services from the old navy vessel, Louisiana and the former cruiser, New Orleans, and named Reed an honorary citizen of the city. Reed's home town of Liberty, Missouri also celebrated their native son, naming March 30, 1935 "Captain Reed Day" in his honor.[36][37][38]

World War II

Captain A.B. Reed, U.S. Navy Ret., liaison officer, Navy, and Office of Production Management, circa 1940

After his command of USS New Orleans ended, Captain Reed was ordered back to Washington to serve at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as Director of Fleet Maintenance Division[39] and on the Joint Economy Board between the Army and Navy.[40]

During World War II, he worked as an executive with shipbuilding firms in New York, Texas and South Carolina, before retiring in 1946. On September 6, 1944, his wife, Bess M. Reed, sponsored the USS Torsk (SS-423) at its launch from the Portsmouth (Maine) Navy Yard.[41]

Personal life

Allen Bevins Reed was from Liberty, Missouri.[5] He graduated from Liberty High School in 1900.[42]

Lieutenant Reed married the former Bessie Moorhead of Omaha, Nebraska on September 25, 1909 at the home of her parents in Omaha, Nebraska.[43] Their son,[44] Allen B. Reed, Jr. was born on June 11, 1912. He was also a captain in the Navy.[45] In 1914, the Reeds lived in San Diego, California, where their daughter,[46] Annis was born. They had two other daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine.[44]

He died February 28, 1965 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[1] His wife, Bessie, died on September 27, 1966, and is buried with him at Arlington.[47] Allen B. Reed, Jr. is also buried at Arlington. He died September 2, 1996.[45]

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 "ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved December 3, 2016. Reed, Allen B; Birth Date: 04/03/1884; Death Date: 02/28/1965; Interment Date: 03/03/1965; Branch of Service: US NAVY; Section: 35; Grave: 736
  2. ↑ "First Class Petty Officers". Lucky Bag. XI. United States Naval Academy. 1904. p. 19. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  3. ↑ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1900. p. 86.
  4. ↑ "A Brief History of the United States Naval Academy". U.S. Naval Academy. Archived from the original on September 24, 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 "First Class Petty Officers". Lucky Bag. XI. United States Naval Academy. 1904. p. 19. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ "First Class Petty Officers". Lucky Bag. XI. United States Naval Academy. 1904. p. 41. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ Wukovits, John (2010). Admiral "Bull Halsey". Palgrave Macmillan. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-230-60284-7.
  8. ↑ Transcript of Service of Allen Bevins Reed, Commander (T) USN, National Archives and Records Administration, March 20, 1920
  9. ↑ "Passed Midshipmen". Army and Navy Life and the United Service. Army and Navy Press. XII (2): 150. February 1908.
  10. ↑ Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1905. p. 48.
  11. ↑ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps. U.S. Government Printing Office. January 1906. p. 42.
  12. 1 2 Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps. January 1906. p. 188.
  13. ↑ U.S. Navy (1906). Annual Reports of the Navy Department of the Year 1905. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 388.
  14. ↑ "Baltimore Home from Far Off Seas"". New York Times. April 27, 1907.
  15. ↑ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps. January 1907. p. 200.
  16. ↑ "Naval Orders". The Times-Dispatch. Richmond, VA. June 12, 1907.
  17. ↑ Personnel, United States. Bureau of Naval (January 1908). Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty. p. 205.
  18. ↑ "Nippon Captain Calls on Mayor". The San Francisco Call. October 13, 1909. p. 16.
  19. ↑ Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy. 3. 1909. p. 12.
  20. ↑ Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy. 1909. p. 34.
  21. ↑ The Hawaiian Star, May 3, 1911, p. 1
  22. ↑ The San Francisco Call, April 21, 1911, p. 5
  23. ↑ The San Francisco Call, April 25, 1911, p. 5
  24. ↑ The Washington Times, November 3, 1911, p. 1
  25. ↑ The New York Daily Tribune, November 4, 1911
  26. ↑ "Army and Navy Orders". The Washington Times. June 26, 1912. p. 8.
  27. ↑ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps, January 1913, pp. 31, 62
  28. ↑ List of Expeditions 1901–1929, Navy Department Library, Navy History & Heritage Command
  29. ↑ The Washington Times, May 26, 1913
  30. ↑ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps, January 1914, p. 256
  31. ↑ Honolulu Star Bulletin, July 10, 1915
  32. ↑ The Washington Times, June 11, 1915
  33. ↑ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps, January 1917, p. 334
  34. ↑ The Official U.S. Bulletin, December 26, 1917, p.7
  35. ↑ Military Times Hall of Valor, Navy Cross Recipients
  36. ↑ "Welcome to Cruiser New Orleans, Commanded by Liberty, Mo. Man, Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) April 2, 1935, page 7
  37. ↑ "Navy Captain Honored". The Armarillo Globe-Times. Armarillo, Texas. March 26, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  38. ↑ "New Cruiser Presented Cotly Silver Services". The Sunday News and Tribune. Jefferson City, Missouri. March 31, 1935. p. 6. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  39. ↑ Official Register of the United States, 1938
  40. ↑ Official Register of the United States, 1937
  41. ↑ USS Torsk.org website
  42. ↑ "Home town in on Fete". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. March 25, 1935. p. 2.
  43. ↑ "The Smart Set". The San Francisco Call. October 8, 1909. p. 6, bottom of last column – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  44. 1 2 "John T. Flippen Dies - Annis Reed Burroughs". Washington Post. January 20, 1993. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  45. 1 2 "ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved December 3, 2016. Reed, Allen B, Jr; Birth Date: 06/11/1912; Death Date: 09/02/1996; Interment Date: 11/08/1996; Branch of Service: Unknown (grave stone says Navy); Court 4; Section T; Column 6; Niche 3
  46. ↑ "Personal Mention". Omaha Daily Bee. August 26, 1914. p. 6, bottom of column 1 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
  47. ↑ "ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Retrieved December 3, 2016. Reed, Bessie M; Birth Date: 12/21/1883; Death Date: 09/23/1966; Interment Date: 09/27/1966; Branch of Service: Unknown; Section: 35; Grave: 736
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