Worrall Reed Carter

Worrall Reed Carter (11 January 1885 – 21 July 1975) was an American naval officer during World War I and World War II. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School and Columbia University, his early career was in submarines. In World War I, he served on the staff of the commander of US Naval Forces in Europe, Rear Admiral William S. Sims, as an expert on submarine detection devices. During World War II, as commander of Service Squadron Ten, he was responsible for naval logistics in the Pacific Theater. After the war he wrote Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil about naval logistics in the Pacific, and co-wrote Ships, Salvage, and Sinews of War (1954), about naval logistics in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Early life and career Worrall Reed Carter was born at sea on the sailing ship Storm King on 11 January 1885. He was educated at Bath, Maine, High School, and at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, which he entered in June in 1904. He graduated in June 1908, ranked 169th in his class of 201.

After graduation, Carter joined the crew of the battleship , serving with the Great White Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet. In those days, midshipmen had to serve at sea for two years before being commissioned as an ensign, which he duly was on 6 June 1910. In April 1911, he was assigned to the submarine tender for instruction in submarines. He commanded the submarine from November 1911 to September 1912, and then the submarine until September 1913, with the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) from 6 June 1913.

Dates of rank