Vice Admiral Eli Thomas Reich (March 20, 1913 in New York – November 30, 1999 in Arlington, Virginia) was a highly decorated United States Navy officer and World War II submarine commander — the only one to sink a battleship during the war. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 30, Grave 950-A). World War II service A 1935 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Reich attended the submarine school at New London, Connecticut, then in 1939 became executive officer and engineer on the first . Sealion was the first US submarine damaged in World War II; it was bombed on December 10, 1941 while undergoing repairs at Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines, and later scuttled, four men were killed and three others wounded during the bombing. After Sealion was scuttled Reich served on the staff of the submarine commander at Corregidor and Bataan in the Philippines, escaping aboard before the surrender of U.S. forces there in the spring of 1942. He was executive officer aboard the in 1943, then in March 1944 assumed command of the second . Under Reich's command, Sealion II was credited with sinking the , the only Japanese battleship sunk by submarine during World War II, the destroyer , and a prisoner of war ship, Rakuyo Maru. After sinking the POW ship, Sealion II surfaced and rescued 23 Australian and 31 British prisoners of war from the sea. Post-World War II After the war Reich's assignments included duty in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and study at the Armed Forces Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. In 1960-61 Reich commanded the missile cruiser Canberra (CAG-2). He was later made Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons, then from 1962 to 1965 Commander of the Surface Missile Project (which was key to the development of the "3-T" missile systems), and Commander of the anti-submarine warfare group in Southeast Asia during the early years of the Vietnam War. His last active duty assignment was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics. Reich retired from the Navy a Vice Admiral (3 stars) on October 31, 1973 after 38 years of service. Shortly after his retirement from the Navy, Reich was named director of the Emergency Energy Allocations Program, which was responsible for the distribution of oil and gasoline during the 1973 oil crisis. Described