Allied Warships

USS Reuben James (i) (DD 245)

Destroyer of the Clemson class


USS Reuben James before World War 2

NavyThe US Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassClemson 
PennantDD 245 
Built byNew York Shipbuilding Corp. (Camden, New Jersey, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down2 Apr 1919 
Launched4 Oct 1919 
Commissioned24 Sep 1920 
Lost31 Oct 1941 
Loss position51° 59'N, 27° 05'W
History

Reuben James was decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 January 1931 and recommissioned there on 9 March 1932.

USS Reuben James (Lt.Cdr. Heywood Lane Edwards, USN) was escorting convoy HX-156 with four other destroyers of the US Escort Group 4.1.3. and at 0834 hours was hit by a torpedo in position 51º59'N, 27º05'W, which ignited the ammunition in the forward magazine. The explosion split the ship in two, the forward section sank immediately taking all hands on that part of the ship with her. As the stern sank the depth charges exploded and killed some survivors in the water. The destroyer USS Niblack (DD 424) rescued 36 men (one of them died of wounds on 2. November) and USS Hilary P. Jones (DD 427) picked up 10 more. 115 of the crew were killed including all the officers.

 

Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 31 Oct 1941 by U-552 (Topp).

U-boat AttackSee our U-boat attack entry for the USS Reuben James (i)

Commands listed for USS Reuben James (i) (DD 245)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Edward Conrad Metcalfe, USN10 Mar 19386 Apr 1940
2Lt.Cdr. Heywood Lane Edwards, USN6 Apr 194031 Oct 1941 (+)

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Media links


U-Boat Attack Logs

Daniel Morgan and Bruce Taylor


amazon.co.uk
(£ 38.25)


Destroyers of World War Two

Whitley, M. J.


Blood on the Sea

Parkin, Robert Sinclair


amazon.com
($ 15.98)


U.S. Destroyers

Friedman, Norman


United States Destroyer Operations In World War II.

Roscoe, Theodore


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