USS Jacob Jones (DD-61)
USS Jacob Jones (DD-61)
| |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Jacob Jones |
Namesake | Jacob Jones[1] |
Ordered | 1913[3] |
Builder | |
Yard number | 150[2] |
Laid down | 3 August 1914[1] |
Launched | 29 May 1915[1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Jerome Parker Crittenden[1] |
Commissioned | 10 February 1916[1] |
Identification | DD-61 |
Fate | Sunk by SM U-53, 6 December 1917[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tucker-class destroyer |
Displacement |
|
Length | 315 ft 3 in (96.09 m)[1] |
Beam | 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)[3] |
Draft | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m)[3] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h)[1] |
Complement | 99 officers and enlisted[1] |
Armament |
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USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer No. 61/DD-61)[Note 1] was a Tucker-class destroyer built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I. The ship was the first U.S. Navy vessel named in honor of Jacob Jones.
Jacob Jones was
After her February 1916
On 6 December, Jacob Jones was steaming independently from Brest, France, for Queenstown, when she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-53 with the loss of 66 men, becoming the first United States destroyer sunk by enemy action.[4] Jacob Jones sank in eight minutes without issuing a distress call; the German submarine commander, Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose, after taking two badly injured Jacob Jones crewmen aboard his submarine, radioed the U.S. base at Queenstown with the coordinates for the survivors. The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Dedham, Massachusetts is named for the ship.[5]
Design and construction
Jacob Jones was authorized in 1913 as the fifth ship of the
Jacob Jones had two
Jacob Jones' main
Jacob Jones was also equipped with eight 21-inch (533 mm)
USS Jacob Jones was
Jacob Jones' duties at Queenstown involved patrolling and escorting convoys in the
On 19 October, the British
Sinking
In early December, Jacob Jones helped escort a convoy to Brest, France, with five other Queenstown-based destroyers. The last to depart from Brest on the return to Ireland, Jacob Jones was steaming alone in a zig-zag pattern when she was spotted by Kapitänleutnant Hans Rose on the German submarine U-53.[12] At 16:20 on 6 December 1917, near position 49°23′N 6°13′W / 49.383°N 6.217°W, lookouts on Jacob Jones spotted a torpedo 800 yards (730 m) distant headed for the ship's starboard side. Despite having her rudder put hard left and emergency speed rung up, Jacob Jones was unable to move out of the way, and the torpedo struck her rudder. Even though her depth charges did not explode, Jacob Jones was adrift. The jolt had knocked out power, so the destroyer was unable to send a distress signal; since she was steaming alone, no other ship was present to know of Jacob Jones' predicament.[12]
Commander David W. Bagley, the destroyer's commander, ordered all life rafts and boats launched.[12] As the ship sank, her bow raised in the air almost vertically before she began to slip beneath the waves. At this point the armed depth charges began to explode, killing men who had been unable to escape the destroyer, and stunning many others in the water.[13] The destroyer, the first United States destroyer ever lost to enemy action,[4] sank eight minutes after the torpedo struck the rudder, taking with her two officers and 64 men.[13]
Several of the crew—most notably
Bagley noted in his official account that about 30 minutes after Jacob Jones sank, the German submarine surfaced about two to three miles from the collection of rafts and took one of the American sailors on board.[13] According to Uboat.net, what Rose of U-53 had done was surface and take aboard two badly injured American sailors.[15] Rose had also radioed the American base at Queenstown with the approximate coordinates of the sinking before departing the area.[1][16]
Bagley, unaware of Rose's humanitarian gesture,
Several men were recognized for their actions in the aftermath of the torpedo attack. Kalk (posthumously) and Bagley received the
Wreck
On August 11, 2022, British deep-sea divers located the wreck of Jacob Jones off the Isles of Scilly at a depth of 377 feet (115 m).[20] Numerous artifacts were located, including the 80-pound (36 kg) ship's bell.[21][22][23] The divers, who found the bell lying on its side, flipped it upright and photographed and filmed it.[21]
On 15 January 2024,
See also
- USS Reuben James (DD-245) – a United States Navy destroyer sunk prior to the American entry into World War II.
- Second World War
Notes
- ^ The United States Navy's hull classification system—in which Jacob Jones would have been designated DD-61—was not implemented until July 1920. Even though Jacob Jones was never known as DD-61 while afloat, many reference works nevertheless extend the system and refer to the ship by what her designation would have been, had she survived the war.
- calibers, meaning that the barrel is 50 times as long as its bore diameter, 200 inches (5.1 m) in this case. The Mark number is the version of the gun; in this case, the ninth U.S. Navy design of the 4-inch/50 gun.
References
- ^ Naval History & Heritage Command. "Jacob Jones". DANFS. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ "Jacob Jones (6105470)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gardiner, pp. 122–23.
- ^ "History and Memorials". U.S.S. Jacob Jones Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ^ "Attempt to scuttle destroyer Jacob Jones in Philadelphia; Petty Officer put in irons" (PDF). New York Times. 4 February 1917. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ Naval History & Heritage Command. "Cassin". DANFS. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Valetta". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Dafila". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ a b Gibson and Prendergast, p. 221.
- ^ a b c Feuer, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d e Feuer, p. 22.
- ^ a b "Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Stanton F. Kalk, USN (1894–1917)". Online Library of Selected Images: People. Navy Department, Naval Historical Center. 21 September 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Jacob Jones (Uss)". German and Austrian U-boats of World War I - Kaiserliche Marine - Uboat.net. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ "USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer # 61), 1916–1917". Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships. Navy Department, Naval Historical Center. 29 September 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ Naval History & Heritage Command. "Bagley". DANFS. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- ^ Stringer, pp. 73, 90.
- ^ Stringer, pp. 188, 210, 212.
- ^ Gross, Jenny (18 August 2022). "U.S. Ship Sunk by Germans in 1917 Is Found Off English Coast". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
'It's a really big deal, to be blunt,' said [Michael] Lowrey, the naval historian. 'The U.S. Navy got into World War I late, and they didn't lose a lot of major ships. The one destroyer they lost in combat was the Jacob Jones.'
- ^ a b c d e Beavis, Lauren; Stebbings, Lili (14 August 2022). "Divers find missing 1917 US shipwreck near Cornwall coast". CornwallLive. SWNS.
- ^ "US World War One wreck found by divers off Cornwall". BBC News. 18 August 2022.
- ^ Ruane, Michael E. (20 February 2024). "British divers recover bell from U.S. destroyer sunk by U-boat in WWI". washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Grady, John (13 February 2024). "Relic Recovered from U.S. Destroyer Lost in WWI". usni.org. United States Naval Institute. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Pengelly, Matt (17 February 2024). "Bell salvaged from WW1 US Navy destroyer sunk off the Isles of Scilly". www.bbc.co.uk/news. BBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
Bibliography
- Feuer, A. B. (1999). The U.S. Navy in World War I. OCLC 40595325.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. OCLC 12119866.
- Gibson, R. H.; Maurice Prendergast (2003) [1931]. The German Submarine War, 1914–1918. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 52924732.
- Naval History & Heritage Command. "Bagley". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- Naval History & Heritage Command. "Cassin". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
- Naval History & Heritage Command. "Jacob Jones". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
- Stringer, Harry R. (1921). The Navy Book of Distinguished Service. Washington, D.C.: Fassett Pub. Co. OCLC 2654351.
External links
- Photo gallery of Jacob Jones at NavSource Naval History
- USS Jacob Jones website at Destroyer History Foundation