The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander William R. Allen, United States Navy (Reserve Force), for distinguished service in the line of his profession while commanding the U.S.S. Transport NARRAGANSETT, operating between Southampton, England, and France, engaged in the important, exacting, and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies through waters infested with enemy submarines during World War I.