USS Reuben James (DD-245)

USS Reuben James (DD-245)—a post-World War I, four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer—was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in the European theater of World War II and the first named for Boatswain's Mate Reuben James (c.1776–1838), who distinguished himself fighting in the First Barbary War.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Reuben James.
USS Reuben James on April 29, 1939
History
United States
Name: Reuben James
Namesake: Reuben James
Builder: New York Shipbuilding
Laid down: April 2, 1919
Launched: October 4, 1919
Commissioned: September 24, 1920
In service: September 24, 1920
Out of service: October 31, 1941
Fate: Sunk by U-552, October 31, 1941[1]
General characteristics
Class and type: Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement: 1,215 long tons (1,234 t)
Length: 314 ft 5 in (95.83 m)
Beam: 31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
Draft: 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Installed power: 26,500 shp (19,800 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 35 kn (40 mph; 65 km/h)
Range: 4,900 nmi (5,600 mi; 9,100 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement: 159 officers and enlisted
Armament:

Reuben James was laid down on April 2, 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, launched on October 4, 1919, and commissioned on September 24, 1920, with Commander Gordon W. Hines in command. The destroyer was sunk by a torpedo attack from German submarine U-552 near Iceland on October 31, 1941,[1] before the U.S. had officially entered the war.

Service history

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Reuben James saw duty in the Mediterranean Sea in 1921–1922. Reuben James went from Newport, Rhode Island, on November 30, 1920, to Zelenika, Yugoslavia, arriving on December 18. During the spring and summer of 1921, she operated in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean out of Zelenika and Gruz (Dubrovnik), Yugoslavia, assisting refugees and participating in postwar investigations. In October 1921 at Le Havre, she joined the protected cruiser Olympia at ceremonies marking the return of the Unknown Soldier to the U.S. At Danzig, from October 29, 1921 to February 3, 1922, she assisted the American Relief Administration in its efforts to relieve hunger and misery. After duty in the Mediterranean, she departed Gibraltar on July 17.[1]

Based then at New York City, the ship patrolled the Nicaraguan coast to prevent the delivery of weapons to revolutionaries in early 1926. In the spring of 1929, she participated in fleet maneuvers that foreshadowed naval airpower. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia on January 20, 1931. Recommissioned on March 9, 1932, the ship again operated in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, patrolling Cuban waters during the coup by Fulgencio Batista. She transferred to San Diego in 1934. Following maneuvers that evaluated aircraft carriers, Reuben James returned to the Atlantic Fleet in January 1939.[1]

World War II
Main article: Battle of the Atlantic

Upon the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, she joined the Neutrality Patrol, guarding the Atlantic and Caribbean approaches to the American coast. In March 1941, Reuben James joined the force established to escort convoys sailing to Great Britain. This force escorted convoys as far as Iceland, after which the convoys became the responsibility of British escorts. She was based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, under command of Lieutenant Commander Heywood Lane Edwards.[1]

On October 23, she sailed from Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland with four other destroyers, escorting eastbound Convoy HX 156. At daybreak on October 31, she was torpedoed near Iceland[2] by U-552 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp. Reuben James had positioned herself between an ammunition ship in the convoy and the known position of a German "wolfpack", a group of submarines poised to attack the convoy. Reuben James was hit forward by a torpedo meant for a merchant ship and her entire bow was blown off when a magazine exploded. The bow sank immediately. The aft section floated for five minutes before going down. Of a crew of seven officers and 136 enlisted men plus one enlisted passenger, 100 were killed, leaving only 44 enlisted men and no officers who survived the attack.[1][2]

Convoys escorted
Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
ON 20 Sep 30 – October 9, 1941[3] from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war
HX 156 Oct 24–31, 1941[4] from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war; sunk by U-552

Awards

In music
  • Woody Guthrie wrote the song, "The Sinking of the Reuben James",[5] and performed it with Pete Seeger and the other Almanac Singers. The Guthrie song has an original tune for its chorus, but its verses are set to the tune of the song "Wildwood Flower". Seeger later also performed the song with The Weavers.
  • Johnny Horton performed Guthrie's song on his album Johnny Horton Makes History.[6]
  • The Kingston Trio have released their version of Guthrie's song on numerous albums.[7]
  • The Chad Mitchell Trio released their version of Guthrie's song on Reflecting.[8]

In television
  • In Foyle's War, Series Four episode 1, "Invasion", Captain John Kieffer confides in Christopher Foyle that he never understood the American isolationists who opposed the war. John enlisted in the U.S. military the day after his 25-year-old kid brother Brian was killed while serving on a Navy destroyer, on convoy duty, a month before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Brian and 114 other people lost their lives when a German U-boat torpedoed and sank Reuben James in the Atlantic Ocean, a tragedy that nobody talked about.

In philately

See also

Notes
  1. "Reuben James". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. September 25, 2005. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  2. Larrabee, Eric (1987). Commander In Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-59114-455-7.
  3. "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  4. "HX convoys". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  5. Klein, Joe (1980). Woody Guthrie: A Life. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-50152-9.
  6. "Johnny Horton Makes History Original Recording Remastered". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  7. "Kingston Trio Greatest Hits". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  8. "Chad Mitchell - Singin' Our Mind/Reflecting CD". October 7, 2003. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  9. Sinking of Reuben James U.S. Stamp Gallery.

References

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