Newsletter 5-1 has been mailed/emailed to everyone.  You can read the latest issue on the Newsletters page.

The Ship

Read the latest compiled ship's history at Ship's History

In nearly 30 years, this was as good, and as handsome, as she ever looked...a real fighting ship!
See the gallery of ship's photos from the earliest to the last days.

Combat Action Ribbon
Navy Unit Commendation - Meritorious Unit Commendation - Battle E
Navy Expeditionary - National Defense - Armed Forces Expeditionary (3 awards)
Vietnam Service (3 awards) - Humanitarian Service - Vietnam Campaign



Navy Unit Commendation

See two unique photos from John Hugdahl from the CPO Mess in 1966...

Ron Reeves has provided historic photographs of RADM Reeves onboard the USS Lexington (CV-2) in 1928.

Something else new...
New Navy Logo for Veterans

About the USS Reeves

There have been two U.S. Navy ships to carry the Reeves name. The first USS Reeves was a 1400-ton Buckley class escort ship built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia. She was named in honor of Chief Radioman Thomas James Reeves, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.

After a year of Atlantic convoy escort duty (1943-1944) as DE-156, the Reeves was converted to a high speed transport. The USS Reeves (APD-52) reported to the Pacific Fleet early in 1945 and took part in the Ryukyus campaign. At the end of the War, she moved up to Japan to support the repatriation of prisoners of war and other occupation activities. Returning to the United States in late 1945, she was decommissioned in July 1946 and was laid up at Green Cove Springs, Florida. USS Reeves remained in the Atlantic reserve fleet until June 1960 and was then transferred to Ecuador for use as a floating electric power plant.

Further information for the first USS Reeves can be found at the Naval Historical Center and Wikipedia.com.

The second USS Reeves was Leahy-class guided missile frigate officially classified as a destroyer leader (DLG) (later reclassified as a cruiser - CG) that was named for Vice Adm. Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves. Admiral Reeves is also known as the "father of carrier warfare." USS Reeves was built by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1960. She was launched on 12 May 1962 and commissioned on 15 May 1964. With the exception of a period at Bath Iron Works for her first AAW upgrade, the Reeves served entirely in the Pacific fleet and was alternately homeported at Pearl Harbor or Yokosuka, Japan.

Throughout her nearly 30 years of service, the Reeves spent four tours off the coast of Vietnam in the 60s and 70s. She maintained a U.S. presence in the Western Pacific as part of Battle Group Alfa, homeported in Yokosuka, for most of the 1980s. USS Reeves returned to Pearl Harbor where she spent the last three years until decommissioning 12 November 1993. The Reeves remained at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor until she was towed south on her final cruise to the Coral Sea. During Tandem Thrust 2001, a joint Naval exercise with the U.S. and Australian navies, Reeves was sunk on 31 May 2001 as a target ship for Australian Air Force precision training. She rests nearly three miles down at the bottom of the Coral Sea about 170 miles east of Fraser Island and the coast of Australian.

It is to the memory of the second USS Reeves and the 4,000+ shipmates that served in her that this site is dedicated.

Go to Page Two

Visitors:

Webmaster