USS Jacob Jones, a 1200-ton Edsall class escort ship built at Orange, Texas, was commissioned in April 1943. In July and August, following shakedown, she escorted a convoy across the Atlantic to North Africa, making one antisubmarine attack during the voyage. Jacob Jones was employed in convoy escort and patrol between the U.S. and the Mediterranean area for the rest of 1943. She served with the escort carrier Card (CVE-11) in January-March 1944, then began shepherding convoys across the North Atlantic to the United Kingdom and, later, to France. This duty lasted for the rest of the European war, with occasional breaks for shipyard work, training and patrol service.

In July 1945, Jacob Jones passed through the Panama Canal to join the war against Japan. However, that nation surrendered soon after the ship reached the Hawaiian Islands. After transporting personnel to the West Coast, she returned to the Atlantic in September to begin deactivation preparations. She was decommissioned in July 1946. After nearly three decades in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, initially at Green Cove Springs, Florida, and later at Orange, Texas, USS Jacob Jones was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1971 and sold for scrapping in August 1973.

USS Jacob Jones was named in honor of Commodore Jacob Jones, USN, (1768-1850), a naval hero of the War of 1812.