Ships
- USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) Captain from 10 January 1945 · Relieved on 29 July 1945
Herbert Douglas Riley was born in Baltimore on 24 December 1904, the son of Marion and Sarah Riley, and called himself a "ninth-generation Marylander." He attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and entered the Naval Academy in May 1923. There he played lacrosse, worked on the Lucky Bag yearbook, and went by "Herb" or "Pat." He graduated and was commissioned on 2 June 1927 in a class rich in future flag officers, including John Thach, George W. Anderson Jr. and Tom Hamilton.
Trained as a naval aviator, he first made his name in command of the escort carrier Makassar Strait, which supported the fighting at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. He married the daughter of Admiral John H. Towers, the pioneer naval aviator who later led the Pacific Fleet.
After the war he served in senior staff posts, including duty under Admiral Robert Carney. He became a rear admiral on 1 August 1955 and commanded Carrier Division One in the Far East. He was chief of staff of U.S. Pacific Command under Admirals Stump and Felt until 1960, then Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations and Readiness. From February 1962 he was Director of the Joint Staff under General Maxwell Taylor and held that post through the Cuban Missile Crisis. He retired on 28 February 1964 with the Distinguished Service Medal.
In retirement on Kent Island, Maryland, he took part in the Naval Institute's oral history program. He died at home on 17 January 1973 and was buried at the Naval Academy Cemetery. He and his wife lost an infant son in 1941 and had a daughter, Lynn.