[82Rigger]

USS REUBEN JAMES (DD-245)

On October 31, 1941, the USS Reuben James, on escort duty,
was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat off the western coast of Ireland. There were 44 survivors. One hundred American sailors lost their lives.

This occurred over a month before Pearl Harbor. America was still neutral.

Der Fuehrer Adolf Hitler apologized and expressed his "regret" over this "unfortunate" event.


Have you heard of the ship called the good Reuben James?
Run by hard fighting men both of honor and of fame.
She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free,
but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.

Oh, tell me, what were their names, tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?

One hundred men went down to their dark and watery graves. When that good ship went down, only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October they saved forty-four
from the dark, icy water of that cold Ireland shore.


It was there in the dark of that cold and watery night.
They watched for the U-boats and they waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion's roar.
They lay the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.


Many years have passed since those brave men are gone.
Those cold, icy waters, they're still and they're calm.
Many years have passed and still I wonder why
the worst of men must fight and the best of men must die!