John Roland Redman was born on January 31, 1898, in Reno, Nevada to Mrs. Katherine Williams Redman, and Joseph R. Redman. He received an appointment to the Naval Academy in 1915 and was commissioned as an Ensign on June 7, 1918.
In November 1920, he started his duty duty career and served in the USS NEW YORK (BB 34), followed by USS PAUL HAMILTON (DD 307), the USS TATTNALL (DD 125) and the USS LaVALLETTE (DD 315).
He returned to the United States for instruction in radio engineering. He was ordered to Asiatic Station, and reported for duty on the staff of the Commander Destroyer Squadron, Asiatic Fleet, until October 1926, when he joined the USS ARIZONA (BB 39). Detached in June 1927, he was then assigned as the Assistant District Communication Officer, Twelfth Naval District. In August 1929, he reported as Executive Officer of the USS ZEILIN (DD 313), followed by the USS CLAXTON (DD 140) and the USS EVANS (DD 78).
Between June 1932 and May 1934, he was assigned to the Office of Naval Communications, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., after which he held two staff positions until June 1936. On February 5, 1938, he assumed command of the USS DALE (DD 353). In December of the same year Redman was relieved and was transferred to duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department. He was serving in the Inter-department Communication Liaison Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
From February to October, 1942, he served as Head, Radio Intelligence Section, Division of Naval Communications. In October, he joined the staff of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and Pacific Ocean Areas. On May 2, 1945, he assumed command of the USS MASSACHUSETTS (BB 59).
He became Commander of the Naval Receiving Station, Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, until January 1947 at which time he was designated Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff to the Commander Western Sea Frontier. In July 1947, he assumed duty as Deputy Commander Western Sea Frontier, until August 1949, when he reported as Director of Naval Communications, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Department of the Navy. In August 1953, he again reported as Deputy Commander Western Sea Frontier.
He became Commandant, Twelfth Naval District, with headquarters in San Francisco, California, on February 8, 1954. On October 1, 1957, he was transferred to the Retired List of the U.S. Navy and was advanced to the rank of Vice Admiral on the basis of a combat award.
Vice Admiral Redman’s first wife was the former Elizabeth Clemens, also of Reno. They were married in Reno on April 30, 1924. Mrs. Redman died in the Oakland, California, on October 14, 1955. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Admiral Redman was re-married in Fresno, California, on December 10, 1956 to the former Miss Lillian Peterson.
Vice Admiral Redman died on May 29, 1970. He was 72 years old.
Source: Echoes of Our Past
31 January 2019 at 16:49
Thanks for posting this biographical sketch of Vice Admiral John R. Redman, Mario. Do you know, or do you know of someone who may know, the exact date in February 1942 when John R. Redman relieved Captain Safford as head of OP-20-G? I’d also like to know when Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes was relieved by Rear Admiral Joseph R. Redman. I’d love to be able to obtain a history of the Office of Naval Communications, if such is available. Thanks very much, and thanks again for posting this biography of VADM John R. Redman!
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5 April 2019 at 18:11
I have read some uncomplimentary things about the Redman brothers’ conclusions and advice in the early part of the war, particularly in the run up to Midway. This was critically important to the Pacific outcome at the time. Any views?
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8 August 2020 at 00:11
https://stationhypo.com/2016/11/17/officer-who-broke-japanese-war-codes-gets-belated-honor/
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27 August 2020 at 13:17
Redman brothers were snakes- plotted against Rochefort- Redmans should have been busted and kicked out of the Navy- worthless , self serving jackssses .
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27 August 2020 at 19:52
Anytime someone, anyone wishes to make the kind of critical remark “Anonymous” above has done and doesn’t let people know who he/she really is, is, in my opinion a coward. My advice to Mr./Ms. Anonymous is not to base what you think about the Redmans on what was written about them in “And I Was There”: Pearl Harbor and Midway – Breaking the Secrets. That book’s editor was the late Bruce Lee (not the actor). Lee also edited, posthumously, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor and coauthored Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement with the late Henry C. Clausen. For an interesting exercise in finding lies that become history, read Clausen’s testimony to the JCC on Pearl Harbor after the war and compare his public testimony with the nonsense written in Pearl Harbor Final Judgement. Two specific areas of concern are in what the book states about the three general officer members of the Army Pearl Harbor Board from 1944, and what Clausen testified to about the so-called winds execute message. (The Clausen Investigation found evidence, it’s in part 35 of the Pearl Harbor Attack Hearings, that British intelligence in Manila, yes, Manila, had furnished one of their agents on Oahu information that the winds execute had been intercepted. The “(Gerald S.) Wilkinson telegram” was carbon copied to Captain Irving H. Mayfied, LtCol. George W. Bicknell, and Robert L. Shivers. This was done prior to 7 Dec. 1941. My conclusion is that Bruce Lee played a major part after the fact in the cover up of Pearl Harbor.) Andrew “Andy” McKane IV.
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