William E. Reynolds

William Edward Reynolds
Rear Admiral William E. Reynolds, USCG
Born	(1860-01-11)January 11, 1860 Montgomery County, Maryland
Died	January 25, 1944(1944-01-25) (aged 84)
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1878–1924
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	Commandant of the Coast Guard

William Edward Reynolds (11 January 1860 – 25 January 1944) served as the fifth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, from 1919 to 1924.

During the early part of his military career he spent much of his time aboard various vessels in the Revenue Cutter Service and its successor agency, the Coast Guard. He took an active interest in the education of officers as superintendent of the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction by increasing and modernizing the curriculum. The period after World War I when he served as Commandant was one of manpower shortages and personnel problems as well as questions about whether the Treasury Department or the Navy Department should control the Coast Guard. Reynolds was able to guide the service through the difficulties of control and actually increased the number of vessels and men serving under him.

Reynolds was born in Montgomery County, Maryland. He was appointed at age eighteen as a cadet to the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction at Curtis Bay, Maryland, on 24 May 1878 and after two years training was commissioned as a third lieutenant on 17 July 1880. He was in the second class graduated from the School of Instruction. As a member of the crew of USRC Corwin, in 1881, he participated in the search for the missing exploration steamer USS Jeannette along the northern coast of Siberia using a sled team. On 12 August 1881 he was a member of the expedition which claimed Wrangel Island for the United States while searching for Jeannette.

On 24 December 1884 Reynolds reported aboard the School of Instruction's training cutter, USRC Salmon P. Chase as one of the instructors at the school. On 1 June 1885 Reynolds was promoted to second lieutenant. He remained assigned to the Chase until 21 April 1888. On 15 April 1889, he returned to the Chase for a little more than one year, leaving on 19 May 1890. On 18 January 1896 Reynolds was promoted to first lieutenant. Coincidentally, on that same date, the court-martial of Captain Michael "Hell Roaring Mike" Healy for conduct unbecoming of an officer and hazarding the safety of his vessel, the USRC Bear, by being intoxicated; began in San Francisco, California, and Reynolds had been appointed as prosecuting officer. He was successful and Healy was convicted on all charges on 5 March 1896.