Allied Warships

USS Jacob Jones (i) (DD 130)

Destroyer of the Wickes class

NavyThe US Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassWickes 
PennantDD 130 
Built byNew York Shipbuilding Corp. (Camden, New Jersey, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down21 Feb 1918 
Launched20 Nov 1918 
Commissioned20 Oct 1919 
Lost28 Feb 1942 
Loss position38° 37'N, 74° 32'W
History

Decommissioned at San Diego on 24 June 1922
Recommissioned on 1 May 1930

On the morning of 27 February 1942, USS Jacob Jones (Lt.Cdr. Hugh David Black) departed New York alone to patrol and search the area between Barnegat Light and Five Fathoms Bank. She then received orders to concentrate her patrol activity in waters off Cape May and the Delaware Capes. In the afternoon, the destroyer spotted the burning wreckage of the American steam tanker R.P. Resor, which had been torpedoed by U-578 the same day. The destroyer circled the tanker for two hours, searching for survivors before resuming her southward course. At 1057 hours, on 28 February, USS Jacob Jones was hit by two torpedoes fired by U-578, while proceeding completely blacked out at 15 knots. The first torpedo struck on the port side just aft of the bridge and ignited the ship´s magazine. The explosion completely destroyed the bridge, the chart room and the officer´s and petty officer´s quarters. As the ship stopped, the second torpedo struck on the port side about 40 feet forward of the fantail and carried away the after part of the ship above the keel plates and shafts and destroyed the after crew´s quarters. The ship remained afloat for 45 minutes, allowing about 30 survivors to abandon ship on four or five rafts. But as the ship sank in position 38º37'N, 74º32'W, the unsecured depth charges exploded, killing several survivors on a nearby raft. Some hours later, an US Army observation plane sighted the life rafts and reported their position to USS PE-56 on Inshore Patrol. The patrol craft was forced to abandon her search after three hours, due to strong winds and rising seas. She had picked up 12 survivors, but one of them died en route to Cape May. The search for survivors continued for two days but was fruitless.

 

Hit by U-boat
Sunk on 28 Feb 1942 by U-578 (Rehwinkel).

U-boat AttackSee our U-boat attack entry for the USS Jacob Jones (i)

Commands listed for USS Jacob Jones (i) (DD 130)

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 Lender Woodyard, USN22 Mar 193914 Apr 1941
2Lt. Hugh David Black, Jr., USN14 Apr 194128 Feb 1942 (+)

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Notable events involving Jacob Jones (i) include:


17 Feb 1942
USS Jacob Jones and USS PE-19 both pick up survivors from the Brazilian merchant Buarque 30 nautical miles south-west of Cape Henry in position 36°35'N, 75°20'W.

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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