Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves (20 November 1872 – 25 March 1948) was an admiral in the United States Navy and an early supporter of U.S. Naval Aviation. Though a battleship officer during his early career, he became known as the "Father of Carrier Aviation" for his role in integrating aircraft carriers into the fleet as a major part of the U.S. Navy's attack capabilities.

Reeves retired in the mid-1930s but was recalled to active duty during World War II to serve in high-level staff positions within the Office of the United States Secretary of the Navy. He retired again in December 1946 with the rank of full admiral.

Joseph Mason Reeves was born on 20 November 1872 in the village of Tampico, Illinois. He received an appointment in 1890 to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he became an important football player. He is also credited with the invention of the modern football helmet, which he had a shoemaker create for him after being told by a U.S. Navy doctor that another kick to his head could result in "instant insanity" or death. Reeves graduated from the academy in June 1894.

Upon graduation, Reeves was assigned to the protected cruiser USS San Francisco. After the then-mandatory two years at sea prior to being commissioned as an officer, he was commissioned with the rank of assistant engineer in 1896. In 1896 he was reassigned to the battleship USS Oregon in the Pacific Squadron. When the Spanish–American War broke out in April 1898, Oregon was at San Francisco, California, and Reeves was aboard her for her famous 66-day voyage from San Francisco and around Cape Horn to the Caribbean to join the North Atlantic Squadron for operations against the Spanish Navy. After arriving off Cuba, Reeves took part aboard Oregon in the blockade of Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete's squadron at Santiago de Cuba in June and July 1898 and its culmination in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July. For the latter action he was advanced four numbers in grade and commended "[f]or displaying ominous and conspicuous conduct in managing the machinery of the Vessel OREGON, July 3, 1898. [He] so developed the efficiency of the motive power as to cause the attainment of a speed unusual to the ship, thereby enabling her commanding officer to place her in the very conspicuous position that she occupied on that occasion, thus contributing in a very important degree to the success of the OREGON in the battle." The war ended in August 1898.

Reeves's "assistant engineer" rank was changed to ensign on 3 March 1899. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 July 1899 and to lieutenant on 9 October 1901. During these years he left Oregon and subsequently served consecutively aboard the presidential yacht USS Sylph, the gunboat and dispatch vessel USS Dolphin, and the battleship USS Kearsarge until ordered to the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Rhode Island, for six weeks of instruction in torpedoes. He then had duty at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., until September 1902.

After leaving the Washington Navy Yard in 1902, Reeves again served aboard San Francisco. In July 1904 he became aide on the staff of Commander-in-Chief, United States Asiatic Fleet, first under Admiral Yates Stirling aboard his flagship, the battleship USS Wisconsin, and then under Admiral Charles J. Train aboard his flagship, the battleship USS Ohio. Train died on 4 August 1906, and Reeves was detached that month and returned to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was an instructor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics from 1906 to 1908. He served as the academy's head football coach in 1907, guiding the team to a 9–2–1 record and a 6–0 victory over Army.

In March 1908 Reeves became ordnance officer aboard the battleship USS New Hampshire. In September 1909 he began an assignment as fleet ordnance officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet, Admiral Seaton Schroeder, aboard Schroeder's flagship, the battleship USS Connecticut. He moved on in September 1910, one source claiming he began a tour as commanding officer of the Naval Coal Depot aat Tiburon, California, another that he first had an assignment to the Board of Inspection and Survey before assuming duty at Tiburon.

In April 1913, Reeves assumed command of the collier USS Jupiter, the U.S. Navy's first electrically propelled vessel. Detached from Jupiter in April 1914, Reeves took command of the protected cruiser USS St. Louis. During the remainder of 1914 he was attached temporarily to the gunboat USS Vicksburg, the protected cruiser USS Milwaukee, the armored cruiser USS Colorado, the gunboat USS Annapolis, and the armored cruiser USS South Dakota. In either December 1914 or June 1915 he took command of the battleship Oregon. He left Oregon in either March or June 1916 to become aide to the commandant of Mare Island Navy Yard.