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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Reeves (DE 156 / APD 52)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - E - N
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/1 star - WWII Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198
Reeves (DE 156) Building and Operational Data:
  • 07 February 1943: Keel laid by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.
  • 22 April 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Miss Mary Anne Reeves, niece of Chief Radioman Thomas J. Reeves
  • 09 June 1943: Commissioned at Berth 108, St. Helena Annex of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Berkley, Va., Lcdr. Mathias S. Clark, USNR, in command
  • 23 September 1944: Conversion to APD commenced at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • 23 December 1944: APD conversion completed
  • 25 September 1944: Reclassified APD 52
  • 30 July 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 1⅔ months of service
  • 01 June 1960: Struck from the NVR
  • July 1961: Transferred to Ecuador, hulk converted to floating power plant (final fate unknown)
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    Reeves

    Reeves

    		 8k Thomas James Reeves was born in Thomaston, Connecticut, on 09 December 1895. He enlisted in the Navy in July 1917 as an Electrician, Third Class. Reenlisted after a brief separation from the service in October 1921, Reeves rose to the rank of Chief Radioman during the following two decades. During the 07 December 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, he was serving on board USS California. When the ship was bombed, torpedoed and set afire, Chief Petty Officer Reeves assisted in the supply of ammunition until overcome by smoke and fire. For this act of sacrifice and heroism, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

    USS Reeves (DE 156) (1943-1946) was the first ship named in his honor.

    (U.S. Navy photo #NH 101649 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Navsource
    Fechteler 60k Fechteler (DE 157) and Reeves (DE 156) at Norfolk Navy Yard.

    (U.S. Navy photo, date unknown (but obviously prior to commissioning).    		 Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    Reeves 134k Circa October 1943: off Brooklyn, N.Y. - Three views of USS Reeves (DE 156) at anchor, and getting underway, off Brooklyn. Reeves was coming into the New York Navy Yard for her first yard availability. She had just completed her first trans-Atlantic convoy. Ed Zajkowski
    Narvon, Pa.
    Reeves 90k
    Reeves 118k
    Reeves 148k 04 October 1943: New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y. - Five views of Reeves during her first yard availability.

    Looking aft from her fo'csl.









    A yard worker standing in the gun tub of Mount 32 looks up at the photographer.









    Looking aft from the port side of the bridge.









    Looking forward from the fantail.









    Looking aft from Mount 33. USS Hopping (DE 155) with an unidentified DE inboard of her are tied up aft of Reeves.
    Reeves 183k
    Reeves 193k
    Reeves 161k
    Reeves 183k
    Reeves 30k Undated Wartime Image -
    Reeves History
    View the USS Reeves (DE 156 / APD 52) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Reeves' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 09 Jun. 1943 - 02 Dec. 1943Lcdr. Mathias S. Clark, USNR (Comm. CO) (Passaic, N.J.)
    2.) 02 Dec. 1943 - 13 Aug. 1945Lcdr. James J. Durney, USNR (Oakland, Cal.)
    3.) 13 Aug. 1945 - 18 Dec. 1945Lcdr. Park A. Dallas, Jr. (Atlanta, Ga.)
    4.) 18 Dec. 1945 - .. .... 1946Lcdr. Thomas Clay, USNR
    5.) .. .... 1946 - 30 July 1946Lt.(jg) E. F. Gibbons, USNR (Decomm. CO)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    None
    Note About Contacts

    Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
    made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
    a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
    Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Navsource APD Pages, USS Reeves (APD 52)
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Reeves
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 27 December 2018