Dues Notice:  Association members who joined in 2006 have been grandfathered until the 2008 reunion because of the dues reduction at the end of 2006.  Members who joined in 2007 will need to pay their 2008 dues of $10.  Thanks to you shipmates who have taken care of 2008.  If you aren't grandfathered, please send you dues to our Post Office box.  Thanks.

The newsletters are posted on this site.  Click on Newsletters in the menu bar.  Send articles and sea stories for the Spring issue.   Detailed information will be provided in that issue.  Michael

New crew list - there are 882 names so far.  We're missing a lot of addresses and/or email addresses.  If you see someone on the list that you recognize, let me know.  I'll pass along whatever I have.

A True Story!  Our former WEPO, CDR Al Bell (1971 - 1973), has published a couple an article from his days on the Reeves.  If anyone remembers Seaman Posey, or anyone like Seaman Posey, you will definitely enjoy reading this two-part true story.  It was published in the San Diego Mensan and is now part of Al Bell's blog site.

Another Sea Story - this one from Doc Bondurant who joined Reeves for a while during the 72-73 cruise.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph & Jack Stewart
Off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 5 July 1972 -    Entering Sydney Harbor, August 1968

(Note the differences between the two upper photographs - in particular, the left photo shows the Ironlady with two fire control directors, one each forward and aft.  In the right photo, there are four fire control directors, two each forward and aft)

Brian Donley
Distributed Enroute to Seattle 29 July 1992

There are a series of photographs provide by Brian in the Ship's Photo section of this website.  There is even two pictures of the ship on the day she was decommissioned.

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 destroyer (later cruiser) 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.

Ship's Namesake

Read the complete synopsis of this new book at the Namesake webpage.

On The Website

Access both the old and new decklogs and post your entry. The link from the original website posted by Dr. John White now redirects to this website.  Click on Sea Stories to read Chief Nance's latest journal entry.  Also, next up at bat - Brian Donley's photos from his album (1991 - Decommissioning). Fox Division reunion group photos at Das Fox. Latest: Charles Carroll's 1966-1967 shipboard photos.

Ship's Shield

This is the original ship's plaque that was displayed (we believe) on the quarterdeck (1964-1969) prior to the decommissioning and modernization at Bath, Maine.  It has been donated to and is now the property of the Association.  Eventually, we hope to get the story behind it's survival.  Click on the image to the left to see a larger version.  See the Ship's Store about plans for producing a wall-mounted version of this plaque which can be seen on the photo image to the right.

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The Rest of the News...

We has migrated information about the USS Reeves that was contained on the ship's home page, that is the U.S.S. Reeves Home Page.  Dr. John White has told us that his goals have been met with the 2006 reunion and the creation of the association web site.  He has created a redirecting page from the techwriteinc3/ussreeves website that transfers browsers this site.  You can check the original pages that are now located on the web site.  

We are also providing you with information about the Reeves crewmembers who are in contact with each other, wish to contact each other or just didn't know that such a thing was possible.  Check our crew roster or the deck logs to find your buddies.  Contact the webmaster for email or snail mail information.

Interested in joining our association? Are you a former crewmember, or a Leahy Class destroyer (cruiser) double-ender lover, or just like real Navy ships?  Then fill out the application and send it to Robert Lewis.  Less than two years ago, there wasn't any association.  We now have charter members that want an association with reunions and can be found on the member web page.  You need to check it out and join us...  Believe it or not, we are planning our second reunion.  Go the the Reunion page to find out all about it.

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