In Memoriam - U.S.S. Reuben James DD-245

[82Rigger]

In March 1941, the destroyer USS Reuben James joined the convoy escort force established to promote the safe arrival of war material to Britain. This escort force guarded convoys as far as Iceland, where they became responsibility of British escorts. Based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, Reuben James sailed from Argentia, Newfoundland, 23 October 1941, with four other destroyers to escort eastbound convoy HX-156. While escorting that convoy at about 0525, 31 October 1941, Reuben James was torpedoed by German submarine U-552. The ship had postured itself between an ammunition ship in the convoy and the known position of a German U-Boat Wolfpack. The magazine exploded, and the ship sank quickly. Of the crew, 44 survived, and 100 died. Reuben James was sunk five weeks before Pearl Harbor...the US was not yet at war with Germany.

Reuben James was commissioned in 1919, and one of the highlights of her service was, in 1921, to escort the remains of our Unknown Soldier of WW1 from France, across the Atlantic, to his final resting place in Arlington Cemetery in the land of his birth.


Have you heard of the ship called the good Reuben James?
Filled with hard fighting men, of honor and of fame
She flew the stars and stripes of the land of the free
Now she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea

Tell me what were their names,
Tell me what were there names.
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?

It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the u-boat, and waited for the fight
The fire and the rock and the great explosions roar
And they laid the reuben james on the cold ocean floor

One hundred men went down to their dark watery grave
When that good ship went down only forty four were saved
Twas the last day of october that they saved forty four
From the cold icy water and the cold icy shore

Now there are lights in our country so bright
And in the farms and the villages their telling of the fight
Now our mighty battleships steam the bounding main
And remember the name of the good Reuben James

Well, many tears are passed since those brave men are gone,
And those icy waters are still, and they're calm
Many years have passed but still I wonder why
The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die

Tell me what were their names,
Tell me what were there names.
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?

[Boats]

USS Reuben James (DD-245)

Career
Ordered:
Laid down: 2 April 1919
Launched: 4 October 1919
Commissioned: 24 September 1920
Decommissioned:
Fate: Torpedoed 31 October 1941
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement: 1190t
Length: 314ft 5in 31ft 8in x 14ft 1in (95.8m x 9.65m x 4.3m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 35kts (65km/h)
Range:
Complement: 101 officers and enlisted
Armament: 4-4in, 1-3in (76mm), 12-21in (533mm) TT
Aircraft: 0
Motto:
The first USS Reuben James (DD-245), a post-World War I four-stack Clemson-class destroyer, was the first United States Navy ship sunk by hostile action in World War II and the first named for a Boatswain's Mate who distinguished himself fighting the Barbary pirates.

Reuben James was laid down on 2 April 1919, launched on 4 October 1919, and commissioned on 24 September 1920 with Commander Gordon W. Hines in command.

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Reuben James saw duty in the Mediterranean Sea from 1921 to 1922. Based then at New York City, she patrolled the Nicaraguan coast to prevent the delivery of weapons to revolutionaries in early 1926. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 January 1931. Recommissioned on 9 March 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, California in 1934. Following maneuvers that evaluated aircraft carriers, Reuben James returned to the Atlantic Fleet in January 1939.

Upon the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, she joined the Neutrality Patrol, and guarded the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea approaches the American coast. In March 1941, Reuben James joined the convoy escort force established to promote the safe arrival of war material to the United Kingdom. This escort force guarded convoys as far as Iceland, where they became responsibility of British escorts.

Based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, she sailed from Argentia, Newfoundland on 23 October 1941, with four other destroyers to escort eastbound convoy HX-156. While escorting that convoy at about 0525, 31 October 1941, Reuben James was torpedoed by German submarine U 552 near Iceland. Reuben James had positioned herself between an ammunition ship in the convoy and the known position of a "wolfpack." Reuben James was hit forward by a torpedo 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 the crew, 44 survived, and 100 died.

Woody Guthrie wrote "The Sinking of the Reuben James," set to the tune of the folk song "Wildwood Flower," which he performed with Pete Seeger and the other Almanac Singers.

For other ships of this name, see USS Reuben James.

[BLUEHAWK]

Yes, indeed...