Allen Hobbs (30 July 1899 – 23 November 1960) was a captain in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. He was assigned as the

governor of American Samoa This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900. From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Since ...

from 8 February 1944 to 27 January 1945. In 1948, he was appointed as the Hydographer of the Navy, serving until 1953, when he retired.

Early life and education

Allen Hobbs was born on 30 July 1899 in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. His mother was a sculptor named Louise Allen and his father was Alexander F. Hobbs. (After divorce, his mother married Albert Henry Atkins in 1927.) Allen Hobbs's maternal grandfather was

Charles Herbert Allen Charles Herbert Allen (April 15, 1848 – April 20, 1934) was an American politician and businessman. After serving in state and federal elected positions, he was appointed as the first United States-appointed civilian governor of Puerto Rico wh ...

, a representative from Massachusetts to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth United States Congresses, the first American civilian

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

, and the assistant secretary to the navy under President McKinley. After studying science in college, Hobbs attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated in 1919 with the accelerated class of 1920. In 1935, he was named first engineering officer of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. ''Yorktown'' when she was commissioned. In 1942, Hobbs became the commanding officer of the U.S.S. ''Rixey'', an evacuation transport ship that operated at that time in the South Pacific Ocean throughout the Solomons from Guadalcanal to New Zealand. In January 1944, Allen Hobbs was appointed by President Roosevelt Governor of Samoa, a position he served until early 1945, when he returned to the country to await commissioning of the U.S.S ''Columbus'', CA-74, a heavy cruiser to which he had been assigned as commanding officer. On 30 August 1948, Hobbs was appointed as the 35th Hydrographer of the United States Navy, serving until early 1953.

Later years

On 1 March 1953, Hobbs was placed on the Temporary Disability Retirement List. He died on 23 November 1960 at the National Naval Medical Center in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Allen 1899 births 1960 deaths Governors of American Samoa American hydrographers United States Navy officers Military personnel from Lowell, Massachusetts