Posted on 10/31/2018 1:55:32 PM PDT by iowamark
On this day in 1941, USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German submarine. She would become the first American warship sunk during World War II. But how could that be? Wasnt America then still neutral? After all, the attack on Pearl Harbor was still weeks away.
Reuben James wasnt even the first to clash with Germany during those months. As early as April 1941, USS Niblack dropped depth charges to ward off a potential German U-boat attack. In mid-October, USS Kearny was hit by a torpedo, but she survived. (See October 17 post). Now Reuben James would take a mortal hit.
Perhaps youre wondering why America maintained an official position of neutrality for so long?
Reuben James was then part of a U.S. Navy task unit, escorting a convoy of merchant ships across the western Atlantic. The convoy was just south of Iceland by the morning of October 31. Most of the ships werent equipped with radar, nor was the convoy zigzagging to avoid submarine strikes. Unfortunately, a German submarine chose that moment to come on the scene.
Reuben James was hit, suddenly, just as she was turning to investigate a strong direction-finding bearing. The explosion slashed through the fore part of the ship, igniting the forward magazine and tearing the ship apart. The front half of the ship sank immediately. The stern remained afloat for maybe five minutes before it sank, too.
The men struggling in the water were covered with oil, which made it hard to climb into rafts. Their hands were simply too slick! Men began vomiting black oil. Some suffocated on the oil instead. Others were too badly hurt to help themselves in the water, and they drowned.
Then things got even worse. As the stern went down, Reuben Jamess own depth charges began exploding. Life rafts were thrown into the air. One survivor would remember a blinding flash. I felt like I was swimming. Then I realized I couldnt feel any water under me. I turned head-down. I was about 25 feet above the water.
Oily, slippery men were forced to find their way onto rafts. Again. Some didnt make it.
Finally, USS Niblack and USS Hilary P. Jones arrived to help. Rescue efforts were difficult because the survivors were still too covered in oil to help themselves. Finally, a few dozen men were dragged aboard, still choking and gagging on oil and water.
In the end, Niblack saved only thirty-five men out of the 160-man crew. Hilary P. Jones saved only ten. Every officer had been killed.
Most Americans still didnt want to be in World War II, and Reuben James didnt get the attention it should have. Perhaps singer Woody Guthrie saw what was coming down the pike, though? He wrote his famous folk song soon after Reuben James went down.
Tell me, what were their names?
Tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
Pearl Harbor was just around the corner. The sleeping giant would soon be jolted wide awake.
Primary Sources:
Reuben James (c. 1776 – 3 December 1838) was a boatswain's mate[1] of the United States Navy, famous for his heroism in the First Barbary War.
[...]
Born in Delaware around 1776, James joined the United States Navy and served on several ships, including the frigate USS Constellation. During the First Barbary War, the American frigate Philadelphia was captured by the Barbary pirates when it ran aground in the city of Tripoli, on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. During the course of the naval blockade of the harbor, there were numerous engagements, the most intense being the Gunboat Battle of August 3, 1804. During the battle, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur boarded a Tripolitan gunboat that he believed was crewed by the men who had mortally wounded his brother after supposedly surrendering. While Lieutenant Decatur was locked in hand-to-hand combat with the Tripolitan commander, another Tripolitan sailor swung his saber at him. According to early accepted accounts, Reuben James interposed himself between the descending sword and his commander, taking the blow on his head. The blow did not kill him, and he recovered later to continue serving in the Navy.
This account, though, is now considered to be in error. No one by the name of James is recorded as having received medical treatment after the battle. Another of Decatur's crewmen, Daniel Frazier, did receive medical treatment for a serious saber slash to the head. This supports some initial accounts that it was Frazier, not James, who saved Decatur's life.
James continued his Naval career, serving many years with Decatur. He was forced to retire in January 1836 because of ill health. He died in 1838 at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Washington, DC.
Three warships of the Navy have been named Reuben James in his honor:
James Island of Washington state was named for James.[2]
As I recollect, the battleship USS Texas also participated in the so-called “neutrality patrol”.
I seem to remember that folks around Madison county cursed his name, but although he was black he was never one to turn his back on a poor white kid.
Wait that was a different Reuben James.
Never mind.
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