What were their names/Tell me, what were their names/Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? 

So goes the refrain from the song “The Sinking of the Reuben James,” composed by Woody Guthrie and covered by folk singers ranging from Oscar Brand to The Highwaymen.

The title and lyrics refer to the destroyer USS Reuben James, the first American warship sunk during World War II.

The ship met her fate on Halloween Day 1941, just over one month before America would officially enter the war after the Pearl Harbor raid.

Let us now take a look at the sacrifice of the ship and crew that inspired such a poignant folk song.

“Have You Heard of a Ship Called the Good Reuben James…”

The USS Reuben James (DD-245) was a four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer named after U.S. Navy Boatswain’s Mate Reuben James (1776 – 1838), a hero of the First Barbary War. Her keel was laid down on April 2, 1919, in Camden, New Jersey, courtesy of the New York Shipbuilding Company. From there, she was launched on Oct. 4, 1919, and commissioned on Sept. 24, 1920. Her first skipper was CDR Gordon W. Haines. From there, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command official info page: 

“Initially assigned to Flotilla Three, Squadron Two, Division Forty-one, of the Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, Reuben James sailed from Newport, R.I., on 30 November 1920 to Zelenika, Yugoslavia, arriving on 18 December. During the spring and summer of 1921, assigned to the Destroyer Detachment. Naval Forces in European Waters, she operated in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean out of Zelenika and Gravosa [Gruz], Yugoslavia, conducting patrols, assisting refugees and participating in investigations of conditions at numerous ports along the coast of the Adriatic.

“Reuben James had a displacement of 1,215 long tons, a hull length of 314 feet 5 inches, a beam width of 31 feet inches, and a draft of 9 feet 4 inches. Her two geared steam turbine engines powered her through the waves at a maximum speed of 35 knots (40 miles per hour), Endurance was 4,900 nautical miles. Armament consisted of four 4-inch (100mm) main guns, one 3-inch (76mm) antiaircraft gun, and twelve 12-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes.”

The normal crew complement for a Clemson-class destroyer was 122 commissioned officers and enlisted sailors. But on that fateful October day, due to wartime conditions – America’s then-official status of neutrality notwithstanding – the Reuben James was carrying a crew of 144.

“But Tonight She’s In Her Grave At the Bottom of the Sea…”

Fast-forward to Oct. 31. The Reuben James was performing convoy duty off the coast of Iceland, escorting merchant vessels from convoy HX-156, bound for Great Britain carrying war materials from America’s famed Arsenal of Democracy. At 5:34 a.m. local time, while performing a depth charge attack against a suspected German U-boat contact, the destroyer was torpedoed by another Kriegsmarine submarine, U-552 – nicknamed the Roter Teufel, or Red Devil, and under the command of Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp. 

Two of U-552’s torpedoes struck the American warship in her port side. To cite the Naval History and Heritage website again, “‘One or more explosions’ occurred in the vicinity of the forward fireroom, ‘accompanied by a lurid orange flame and a high column of black smoke visible for several minutes at some miles’

“The forward part of the ship open to the sea, Reuben James began to sink immediately, men emerging topside, aft, seeing nothing forward of number four stack within minutes of the explosions.” 

The aft section remained afloat for an additional five minutes, and rescue operations concluded at 8:05 a.m. that morning. When all was said and done, only 44 of the destroyer’s crew were saved. All seven officers, including commanding officer Heywood L. Edwards, perished, along with 93 enlisted men, for a final death toll of 100.

The destroyer was stricken from the Navy Register on March 25, 1942. Unfortunately, try though I have, I have been unable to ascertain the location or depth of the brave ship’s wreck site. Heck, even the so-called Wreck Site website’s info page, though full of other information on the vessel, offers no specific shipwreck info on the ill-fated destroyer. 

The Reuben James Naming Legacy in the USN

Since the sinking of DD-245, two other U.S. Navy vessels have borne the proud Reuben James name. First there was DE-153, a Buckley-class destroyer escort that served from 1942 to 1971, and then came FFG-57, an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate that served from 1983 to 2016.

My fellow Tom Clancy fans may recall that the latter warship played a key, albeit fictitious, role in the bestselling novel Red Storm Rising. 

Methinks it appropriate to conclude this article with the final verse from the folk song: 

Well many years have passed

   since those brave men are gone

And those cold ocean waters now

   are still and they're calm.

Well many years have passed

   but still I wonder why

The worst of men must fight

  and the best of men must die.

About the Author 

Christian D. Orr is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch and The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).