CaptainAllen Bevins Reed (April 3, 1884 – February 28, 1965)[1] was a U.S. Naval officer whose career began aboard vessels in the Asiatic and Pacific Fleets. Early in his career he was Captain Takeshita Isamu's escort during a ceremonial visit to the mayor of San Francisco, and he was a member of a Naval Board of Inquiry. Reed assumed the command of a landing force of 120 men in Nicaragua in 1912, to protect a railway line following a coup d'état attempt by General Luis Mena.
Over his career, Reed commanded eight ships, and after he was made captain, he was commander of Division 80 of Destroyer Squadron 11, Division 30 of Battle Fleet from the flagship USS McCawley, and Division 45 of the Battle Fleet from USS Preble. Reed received the Navy Cross for his command of the USS Susquehanna during dangerous transatlantic voyages of World War I. Reed was the plank ownercommanding officer of the newly commissioned heavy cruiserUSS New Orleans, and in the summer of 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a cruise on the ship through the Panama Canal and the Pacific Ocean.
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. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Army and Navy Munitions Board and served on the Joint Economy Board between the Army and Navy.
Reed entered the United States Naval Academy (USNA) on September 22, 1900, as one of 93 fourth class naval cadets.[2] On July 1, 1902, the Academy changed the title of "naval cadet" to "midshipman".[3] He was on the track, gymnastics and football teams there.[4] Reed's fellow graduates of the class of 1904 included future AdmiralWilliam S. "Bull" Halsey, Jr.[5][6] Completing his academic studies, Reed received his warrant as a passed midshipman. On January 25, 1904, he was detached from Annapolis "to home and ready for sea".[7]
Naval service
Early career
On March 21, 1904, Reed reported for duty aboard the school ship USS Mohican[8] and was then on several vessels of the Asiatic and Pacific Fleets for more than four years. During that time he was commissioned an ensign,[a] which then required successful completion of two years sea duty.[16] Reed was a lieutenant and senior engineer on the USS Albany by October 13, 1909, when he was Imperial Japanese Navy Captain Takeshita Isamu's escort during a ceremonial visit to the mayor of San Francisco.[17][b]
Reed was an executive officer on USS Denver[23][c] when he was given command of a landing force of 120 men who landed at Corinto, Nicaragua on August 29, 1912. This followed a coup d'état attempt by General Luis Mena, Minister of War to overthrow President Adolfo Díaz[25] and the Denver was one of six ships brought in to provide troops to protect the railway line from Corinto to Managua.[26][d]
Mexico and Panama Canal
By May 26, 1913, Reed was next on the Torpedo Flotilla tender USS Iris, as executive officer and navigator,[28][29] and he came to command it into June 1915.[30]Iris along with five torpedo boats from the Pacific Fleet Torpedo Flotilla, were ordered to the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez following the Tampico Affair by May 4, 1914.[31] They patrolled the vicinity of La Paz and Mazatlán, Mexico, during the ongoing civil unrest there.[32][33] During May and June 1914, Iris evacuated American citizen refugees from Mazatlan and Acapulco, including the American consul, Hon. Clement S. Edwards.[34]
About December 26, 1917, President Wilson approved an Act of Congress that temporarily promoted a total of 188 officers to rear admirals, captains, and commanders. Reed was one of the group of men temporarily promoted to commander during World War I.[37] He 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."[38]
By July 1925, Reed was at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island,[45][46] in the Senior Class of 1926.[47] After World War I, the college was led by Admiral William S. Sims, who promoted innovative thinking. Sims was commander of the Naval Forces in Europe during the war.[46]
USS New Orleans made a shakedownTransatlantic crossing to Northern Europe and Scandinavia in May and June 1934.[60] President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a cruise beginning July 5 on the ship, which went through the Panama Canal, had an exercise off of the California coast with USS Macon, and ended at Astoria, Oregon, on August 2, 1934. The New Orleans then went through the Panama Canal to Cuba, and then exercised off of the New England coast.[60] It made its first visit to the port of New Orleans in the spring of 1935. On March 30, 1935, Louisiana Governor Oscar K. Allen presented Reed and the ship with the silver services from the former battleship USS Louisiana and the former cruiser USS New Orleans, and named Reed an honorary citizen of the city.[61][f] It was still under his command in April 1935.[63]
He was Director of Fleet Maintenance Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from October 1935[64] to 1939.[65][g] In 1937, Reed also served on the Joint Economy Board between the Army and Navy[69] and was the appointed Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Army and Navy Munitions Board.[70]
World War II
He retired by October 1, 1939, but he remained on active duty during the initial years of World War II. He was head of the United States Maritime Commission in the second half of 1939 and in 1940.[71][72] Reed was a liaison to the Office of Production Management in Washington, D.C.,[73] which with the Supply Priorities and Allocations Board later became the War Production Board.[74][75] He was an advisor to the Council of National Defense in 1941,[76] which was a World War I organization that was reactivated for World War II and operated in 1940 and 1941.[77]
On September 6, 1944, his wife, Bess M. Reed, sponsored the USS Torsk at its launch from the Portsmouth (Maine) Navy Yard.[78]
Lieutenant Reed married the Bessie Moorhead of Omaha, Nebraska, on September 25, 1909, at the home of her parents in Omaha, Nebraska.[80] Their son,[81] Allen B. Reed, Jr. was born on June 11, 1912. He was also a captain in the Navy.[82] In 1914, the Reeds lived in San Diego, California, where their daughter,[83] Annis was born. They had two other daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine.[81]
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.[84] Allen B. Reed, Jr. is also buried at Arlington. He died September 2, 1996.[82]
Date of ranks
United States Naval Academy Midshipman – Class of 1904[4]
Source: Reed was ensign by April 1907,[12] and lieutenant by October 13, 1909.[17] He was made temporary commander due to an Act of Congress signed by President Woodrow Wilson in December 1917[37] and captain on March 16, 1927.[51]
^Takeshita Isamu was commander of the Idzumo. The ceremonial visit occurred in concert with The Portola Festival[17] on October 19, 1909, that was attended by captains of warships from Holland, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.[18]
^He was assigned to the protected cruiser, USS Denver, by June 26, 1912,[23] and he became a navigator of the vessel that year.[24]
^This landing party reembarked aboard ship October 24 and 25, 1912.[25] Officers and enlisted men who participated in the landing at Nicaragua between July 29, 1912, and November 14, 1912, including those on USS Denver, received the Nicaraguan Campaign Medal.[27]
^He replaced Commander Henry V. Butler[30] and remained Captain of the Port at least through 1916.[36]
^Reed's home town of Liberty, Missouri, named March 30, 1935 "Captain Reed Day" in his honor.[62]
^He was Director of Fleet Maintenance Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations through the intervening years of 1936,[66] 1937,[67] and 1938.[68]
References
^ abc"ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. 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
^"Army & Navy". The Hawaiian Star. May 3, 1911. p. 1 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Pippin's Accounts Examined Again". The San Francisco Call. April 25, 1911. p. 5 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Convicted Naval Officers Get Heavy Penalties". The New York Daily Tribune. November 4, 1911. p. 10, column 1 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Navy and Marine Corps Directory". Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps. January 1913. pp. 31, 62.
^"Army & Navy". The Washington Times. May 26, 1913. p. 12 – column 1 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Stations". Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States and Marine Corps. January 1914. p. 256.
^ ab"Many Changes are Scheduled in Canal Zone". Honolulu Star Bulletin. July 10, 1915. p. 11 – top, 5th column – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Americans are put to death". The Ogden Standard. May 18, 1914. p. 12 – column 2, bottom. Retrieved December 8, 2016 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Army & Navy". The Washington Times. June 11, 1915. p. 6 – top, 3rd column – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
^"Launch". USS Torsk.org. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
^"Home town in on Fete". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. March 25, 1935. p. 2.
^"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.
^ ab"ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. 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
^"Personal Mention". Omaha Daily Bee. August 26, 1914. p. 6, bottom of column 1 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
^"ANC Explorer". Arlington National Cemetery. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. 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
^"First Class Petty Officers". Lucky Bag. Vol. XI. United States Naval Academy. 1904. p. 19. Retrieved December 2, 2016.