USS Reuben James (DD-245)

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USS Reuben James (DD-245)
USS Reuben James
USS Reuben James
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States
Ship type destroyer
class Clemson class
Shipyard New York Shipbuilding , Camden, New Jersey
Build number 234
Keel laying April 2, 1919
Launch October 4, 1919
Commissioning September 24, 1920
Whereabouts Sunk in the North Atlantic on October 31, 1941.
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.83 m ( Lüa )
94.5 m ( Lpp )
width 9.65 m
Draft Max. 2.84 m
displacement 1190  ts standard
 
crew 101–153 men
Machine system
machine 4 White-Forster boilers
2 Westinghouse - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		27,000 PS (19,858 kW)
Top
speed 		35 kn (65 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

The USS Reuben James was a destroyer of the Clemson-class destroyer of the US Navy , the Marines after Reuben James was named (1776-1838).
The destroyer was the first American warship to be sunk in World War II , when the United States of America had not yet joined the war.

history

The Reuben James was one of the destroyers that the US Navy ordered in 1917 to escort its convoys to Europe. Most of them were only finished after the end of the war. The keel laying of the Clemson-class destroyer with the No. 245 was made on April 2, 1919 in Camden, NJ , at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard . The new building with hull number 234 was launched on October 4, 1919 and the destroyer was named Reuben James after a boatswain's mate who on February 16, 1804 protected his commander Stephen Decatur in the port of Tunis . The new building received the code DD-245 in July 1920 and was put into service on September 24, 1920 and assigned to the Atlantic fleet.

First deployments in Europe

The ship was first used in the post-war period in the Mediterranean . On November 30, 1920 the Reuben James Newport left for Zelenika in Montenegro , where the destroyer arrived on December 18. Zelenika was most recently the southernmost terminus of the Danube Monarchy and part of the second most important Austro-Hungarian Navy base in Austria-Hungary . From December 1920 to the summer of 1921, Reuben James von Zelenika and Gruž / also Gravosa (the new port of Dubrovnik and the end point of a branch of the Dalmatian Railway) was mainly involved in refugee evacuations / resettlement and post-war interventions. In September, the destroyer carried out a tour of the former Austro-Hungarian Adriatic coast with the US ambassador in Italy and many other employees of the embassy, ​​including the specialist military attachés, and called at various ports whose future citizenship was in part controversial. Subsequently, the destroyer was involved in the final dissolution of the temporarily existing base of the US Navy in Spalato ; some usable remains, including a small tug, were given to the Yugoslav Navy. As the last US Navy unit stationed in the Adriatic, the Reuben James left port on September 29, 1921 and moved to France.

In October 1921, the destroyer served the American Vice Admiral Albert P. Niblack (1859-1929), the commander of the US Naval Forces in European Waters , on a trip from Cherbourg to Portsmouth to negotiate with the British allies and US institutions in Great Britain. The commander of the destroyer who was traveling with him to London, later Rear Admiral Rufus Z. Zogbaum Jr. (1879–1956), was included in the discussion of the planned famine relief for Russian and formerly Russian territories.
The Reuben James then took part in the ceremony for the return of the Unknown Soldier to the USA on the old cruiser Olympia in Le Havre on October 25th . Together with six French destroyers, she accompanied the start of the transfer on the traditional American cruiser from Le Havre to Washington, DC ; the American destroyer accompanied the old cruiser in international waters after the French destroyers fell back after a final salute. On behalf of the US administration, the Reuben moved James to the Baltic Sea in October and was stationed in the Free City of Danzig from October 29, 1921 to February 3, 1922 . Representatives of the American Relief Administration were on board to organize relief efforts in Russia. After another mission in the Mediterranean, the destroyer began its return journey to the USA on July 17, 1922 in Gibraltar .

Operations off the American coasts

After her deployment in Europe , the Reuben James was stationed in New York . In 1926, it operated on the Nicaraguan coast to stop the illegal arms trade. From mid-January 1927, the Reuben James carried out their annual artillery exercises near Gonaïves / Haiti , in which other destroyers were also involved. The destroyer then went to Panama and through the canal to the Gulf of Fonseca in order to prevent arms deliveries to the insurgents in Nicaragua with five other destroyers from the Special Service Squadron . On March 15th the Reuben James marched back and joined the Fourteenth Squadron after a week off in Balboa . The Squadron then participated in a major US fleet maneuver in the Caribbean from March 28th to April 22nd. Then the destroyer marched in a large formation called Fleet for Liberty until May 13th again to New York. A combined exercise with the army was followed by a short routine visit to the shipyard, a short exercise with midshipmen and another routine overhaul. In June Reuben James visited with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore D. Robinson (1883-1934) New London (Connecticut) and Poughkeepsie . After another short stay in the shipyard, the destroyer again carried out exercises with reservists. The activities of the following years were similar. In the spring of 1929 Reuben James was first involved in maneuvers with the US naval aviators . After ten years of service, the destroyer was decommissioned on January 20, 1931 in the Philadelphia Navy Yard and assigned to the reserves.

As early as March 9, 1932, the Reuben James was re-commissioned to be used again in the Atlantic and the Caribbean . As part of the Scouting Force destroyer was from September 1933 to January 1934. Cuba used when there the Batista - coup took place. On October 19, 1934, the destroyer left Norfolk and reached its future location in San Diego , California on November 9, 1934, where it would remain for the next five years. He regularly took part in maneuvers there. trained reservists and visited various ports to advertise service in the US Navy. In January 1939, the now older destroyer relocated to the American East (Atlantic) coast.

The Reuben James in April 1939

On August 29, 1939, the decision was made to convert the destroyer into a small seaplane tender with the registration number AVP-16 . The outbreak of war in Europe and the acute need for operational destroyers already led to the abandonment of this plan on September 12th, and George E. Badger , who was in reserve, was selected for conversion into an aircraft tender in place of the active Reuben James .

Second World War

In September 1939 the "Pan-American Security Zone" was established. The still in active service Reuben James was assigned by the Commander Atlantic Squadron to a Task Group Patrol 3 of the Neutrality Patrol . Belonged to this unit or the sister ships Decatur (DD-341) and Barry (DD-248) and the prototype of a destroyer transporter, the rebuilt USS Manley (AG-28) , and the two seaplane squadrons VP 52 and VP 53 with twin-engine P2Y-2 flying boats . All parts of Patrol 3 were deployed from Chesapeake Bay with Norfolk as their home port. As a retracted destroyer that had been in service for a long time, the Reuben James changed tasks several times and finally replaced the previous backup destroyer of the aircraft carrier Ranger with the Gilmer (DD-233) . After the resumption of the aircraft group, the three ships ran to Cuba. The Reuben James ran aground in the Old Bahama Channel near Lobos Cay in Cuba on November 30, 1939. The rangers tried to support the damaged vessel, although they wanted to grant their crew a short vacation in Havana and began to unload the destroyer. The rescue tug Warbler and the small seaplane tender Lapwing also came to the rescue. Without ammunition, the Reuben James was finally released and reached Charleston (South Carolina) on December 5, 1939 . After the damage assessment, the destroyer was relocated to the New York Navy Yard for the necessary repairs , where the necessary repairs were not completed until June 3, 1940. However, due to other minor defects, the destroyer had to go to the shipyard several times. By the end of the year, the new crew had been retracted and any remaining deficiencies had been removed.

After the expansion of the American protection zone up to 30 ° west longitude, the US Navy began to provide escort protection for British convoys in early 1941 as part of the " American Neutrality Patrol ". The convoys were escorted to a mid ocean meeting point at a maximum of 30 ° west longitude. From there, the Royal Navy should provide escort to the respective convoys. During this time, German submarines were already operating in the North Atlantic. As early as 1940, the US Navy had received the "shoot-on-sight order" , which stipulated that US forces were allowed to shoot units of the Axis powers as soon as they were sighted.
On March 1, 1941, the Support Force, Atlantic Fleet, was formed from destroyer and reconnaissance squadrons and support units to improve the protection of convoys + over the North Atlantic. On March 11, 1941, the new lending and leasing law came into force, which allowed more far-reaching deliveries than the previously binding neutrality laws . For this purpose, Task Force (TF) 4 was formed, which was stationed in Narragansett Bay . 18 ODD (old destroyers) were seconded, including the Reuben James . The new HMS Chesterfield (I28) unit should protect convoys as far as Iceland, where the British should take responsibility for them.

On July 19, the US Atlantic Fleet formed the TF.1 Warship Association to secure Iceland and to secure the Icelandic convoys. The units that were used to escort convoys to Iceland included Desron 7 with the nine destroyers, three destroyers of the Desron 11 , Desron 30 with eight destroyers, including Greer , and the Desdiv 62 with the sister ships McCormick , Sturtevant , Reuben James and Bainbridge . A task group around the carrier Wasp with the cruisers Quincy and Vincennes and two other destroyers brought 40 P-40 fighter aircraft to Iceland, which were launched from the sea and reached their destination without losses. From August 6th, Catalina flying boats of Patron 73 and Mariner flying boats of Patron 74 operated from Reykjavik resp. Hvalfjörður from. When the US Task Force TF.15 carried out an Icelandic supply convoy with four troop carriers and an army brigade in mid-September 1941 with Operation Indigo III as relief for the marines stationed on Iceland , three freighters, the fleet tanker Cimarron and workshop ship Delta , they led the destroyer escort , which included the Reuben James , carried out multiple depth charges against sonar contacts that turned out to be false targets. The convoy reached unaffected September 16, Reykjavik and the TF.15 Hvalfjödhur. The convoy SC.44 with 56 ships from Canada to Great Britain, which the Canadian EG.23 secured with the destroyer Chesterfield (ex USS Welborn C. Wood ) and four corvettes , was attacked by German submarines from the night of September 19 who sank two freighters, two tankers and the corvette HMCS '' Levis '' (K 115) . The security of the convoy was reinforced by three corvettes and from the 20th also by the US destroyer Winslow of the Porter class and the Reuben James and her sister ships Overton , Truxton and Bainbridge .

The loss of the Reuben James

U 552 on departure October 6, 1941

The Reuben James left the American base Argentia on Newfoundland on October 23, 1941 together with the American destroyers Niblack of the Gleaves class , Hilary P. Jones and Benson of the Benson class and the Tarbell of the Wickes class . The destroyers were supposed to secure the British convoy HX 156 of 40 ships in the Atlantic. On the 25th and 29th, the Hilary P. Jones dropped depth charges at suspected submarine contacts.

On October 30th, Reuben James also discovered suspicious contact and dropped two depth charges. For the further answer, two depth charges were armed. Against 5:34 on October 31, 1941, fired a week ago from St. Nazaire in France spilled his sixth patrol U 552 under Lieutenant Commander Erich Topp two torpedoes , the port side of the Reuben James met with the about 8.8 Knot in his nightly marching position on the left side of the HX-156 convoy . The front part of the destroyer to the last chimney sank immediately. Only two men were later rescued from the front part. But the rear part also sank quickly. One officer managed to distribute life jackets. When the rear part also sank, the two already armed depth charges exploded and killed other crew members.

The niblack that could save 35 Reuben James men

The commander of the escort on the Benson ordered the Niblack to position on the Seikonntee of the Reuben James and the Hilary P. Jones from head to side. The Niblack was able to save 36 men from the oily water, while Hilary P. Jones secured the operation. Their search devices provided further evidence of at least one submarine behind the convoy. Niblack ran back to her position and tried to clear it up, while the Hilary P. Jones continued to search for crew members of the Reuben James and was able to take ten men and a body on board. The two destroyers broke off their search, which had been unsuccessful for hours, only around noon.
100 of the crew died, including all seven of the destroyer's officers. On the further voyage, a man on board the Niblack died from his injuries. 44 men of the crew and the only passenger on board the Reuben James were saved.
The sinking of the Reuben James was the first war loss of a US Navy ship, even before the United States became a party to World War II through the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declarations of war by the Axis powers .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Reuben James I (DD-245) 1920-1942
  2. ↑ Olympia I (Cruiser No. 6), 1895-1957
  3. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 12/09/1939 West Atlantic
  4. ↑ Warbler I (Minesweeper No. 53)
  5. ↑ Lapwing I (Minesweeper No. 1) 1918-1946
  6. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 03/01/1941 Atlantic
  7. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 19.7.- 13.9.1941 North Atlantic
  8. ^ Rohwer: Sea War , September 6-16, 1941 North Atlantic
  9. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 15.- 09.26.1941 North Atlantic
  10. ↑ Rohwer: naval warfare , 24.10.- 4.11.1941 North Atlantic

Web links

Commons : USS Reuben James (DD-245)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files