USS Reuben James (DD 245)
| Name | USS Reuben James (DD 245) | ||
| Type: | Destroyer (Clemson) | ||
| Tonnage | 1.190 tons | ||
| Completed | 1919 - New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden NJ | ||
| Owner | United States Navy | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 31 Oct, 1941 | Nationality:  American | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-552 (Erich Topp) | ||
| Position | 51.59N, 27.05W - Grid AK 9922 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 160 officers and men (115 dead and 45 survivors). | ||
| Convoy | HX-156 | ||
| Route | Argentia, Newfoundland (23 Oct) - Iceland | ||
| Cargo | |||
| History | After commission in 1920, the USS Reuben James (DD 245) was assigned to the Atlantic fleet and saw duty in the Mediterranean from 1921 to 1922. After that, she was based at New York and patrolled the Nicaraguan coast to prevent the delivery of weapons to revolutionaries in early 1926. The destroyer was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 20 Jan, 1931. Recommissioned on 9 Mar, 1932, the ship operated in the Atlantic and the Caribbean, patrolling Cuban waters during the Cuban revolution. In 1934, she was transferred to San Diego, California for maneuvers evaluating aircraft carriers. After that she returned to the Atlantic Fleet in January 1939 and joined in September the Neutrality Patrol, to guard the Atlantic and Caribbean approaches to the American coast. In March 1941, the USS Reuben James (DD 245) joined the convoy escort force that was established at Hvalfjordur, Iceland to escort British convoys from Canadian ports as far as Iceland, where the convoys were taken over by British escorts. | ||
| Notes on loss | At 08.34 hours on 31 Oct, 1941, HX-156 in the US Escort Group 4.1.3 together with with USS Benson (DD 421), USS Hilary P. Jones (DD 427), USS Niblack (DD 424) and USS Tarbell (DD 142). The explosions broke the ship in two, the forward section sank immediately with all hands while the stern remained afloat for five minutes. When the stern sank the unsecured depth charges exploded killing some survivors in the water. The USS Niblack (DD 424) picked up 36 men, but one of them died of wounds on 2 November, while USS Hilary P. Jones (DD 427) picked up ten others. The commander and all officers were lost. The USS Reuben James (DD 245) was the first warship of the US Navy lost in the Second World War (two months before Pearl Harbor). | ||
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