USS Reeves, a 1400-ton Buckley class escort ship built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, was commissioned in June 1943. She escorted Atlantic convoys until September 1944, then began conversion to a high speed transport. Redesignated APD-52, Reeves went to the Pacific 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.

USS Reeves (DE-156/APD-52) 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.