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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 70903:  Lieutenant Walter E. Reno.  Photographed prior to World War I

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Lieutenant Commander Walter E. Reno, USN (1881-1917)

Walter Elsworth Reno was born in Davis County, Iowa, on 3 October 1881. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1901 and graduated in 1905. While a junior officer, Reno served primarily in battleships. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1910 and during the next four years was stationed in the battleships New Jersey and Wisconsin. From early 1914 until early 1916 he was Officer in Charge at the Chicago, Illinois, Navy Recruiting Station.

Lieutenant Reno then went out to the Philippines, where he took command of the destroyer Chauncey. In the Summer of 1917, after United States had entered World War I, Reno brought his ship from the Far East to the European war zone. While on convoy escort duty west of Gibraltar during the night of 19 November 1917, Chauncey was rammed by a merchant steamer and sank, taking with her Lieutenant Commander Reno and twenty of his ship's officers and men.

USS Reno (DD-303), 1920-1931, was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Reno.

This page features the only views we have related to Walter E. Reno.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 70903

Lieutenant Walter E. Reno, USN


Photographed prior to World War I.
While serving as Commanding Officer of USS Chauncey (Destroyer # 3), Lieutenant Commander Reno was lost with his ship when she collided with the British merchant steamer Rose off Gibraltar on 19 November 1917.
USS Reno (DD-303) was named in his honor.

Courtesy of Lieutenant Gustave Freret, 1970.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 33KB; 280 x 765 pixels

 


The following photographs show a memorial tablet featuring the name of LCdr. Reno:

Photo #: NH 42003

USS Chauncey
(Destroyer # 3)

Memorial tablet erected by the officers and men of Destroyer Squadron Fifteen in memory of the three officers and eighteen enlisted crewmen lost with Chauncey on 19 November 1917.
The tablet was probably dedicated following World War I, possibly at Gibraltar.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 96KB; 405 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 90282

USS Chauncey
(Destroyer # 3)

Dedication ceremonies for a memorial tablet erected by the officers and men of Destroyer Squadron Fifteen in memory of the three officers and eighteen enlisted crewmen lost with Chauncey on 19 November 1917.
The ceremonies probably took place following World War I, possibly at Gibraltar.

Collection of Vice Admiral Thomas T. Craven, USN. Courtesy of Lieutenant Rodman Dekay, Jr., USNR (Retired), 1979.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 128KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42002

USS Chauncey
(Destroyer # 3)

Memorial tablet erected by the officers and men of Destroyer Squadron Fifteen in memory of the three officers and eighteen enlisted crewmen lost with Chauncey on 19 November 1917.
Photographed during the dedication ceremonies, possibly at Gibraltar, after World War I.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 154KB; 505 x 765 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 31 August 2002