John Harllee, 91; Former Chairman of Federal Maritime Commission

John Harllee, 91, retired Navy rear admiral whose Pacific theater service with John F. Kennedy during World War II led to his appointment as chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, died of pneumonia Feb. 5 in Bethesda, Md.

A lieutenant stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack Dec. 7, 1941, Harllee went on to command a torpedo boat squadron in 1943 and 1944 that earned a Presidential Unit Citation. His wartime exploits, including service as chief staff officer of a PT boat group with 200 boats and 10,000 men, including Kennedy, also earned him a Silver Star and Legion of Merit with combat V (for valor).

At war’s end, Harllee, a native of Washington, D.C., and the son of a Marine general, was assigned to the Navy’s congressional liaison team; later he worked in Kennedy’s office when the future president was a member of the House of Representatives.

Returning to destroyer duty, Harllee commanded the Dyess and later served as executive officer of the cruiser Manchester during the Korean War. He retired from the Navy in 1959 and the next year was chairman of Citizens for Kennedy and Johnson in Northern California.

After Kennedy became president, Harllee was named to the new five-person Federal Maritime Commission (later Federal Maritime Board), which governs ocean transportation in foreign commerce, and in 1963 was elevated to chairman. Harllee retired from the commission in 1969 and spent the next five years as a maritime consultant.