
: Torpedoed 31 Oct 41 by U-552 while escorting convoy HX-156 
across the North Atlantic, Reuben James was arguably the 1st American combatant sunk 
by deliberate enemy action (if one accepts the Japanese apologies for the Panay).
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![]() Torpedoed  | 
| The Sinking of the Reuben James | |
|---|---|
| Verse 1: | Chorus: | 
| Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James, | Tell me, what were their names, tell me, what were their names? | 
| Manned by hard-fighting men, both of honor and of fame? | Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? | 
| She flew the stars and stripes of the land of the free, | What were their names, tell me, what were their names? | 
| But tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea. | Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? | 
| Verse 2: | Verse 3: | 
| One hundred men went down to their dark watery grave; | It was there in the dark of that uncertain night | 
| When that good ship went down, only forty-four were saved. | That we watched for the U-boat and waited for a fight. | 
| 'Twas the last day of October that they saved forty-four | Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared, | 
| From the cold icy waters by the cold Iceland shore. | And they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor. | 
| Verse 4: | |
| Well, many years have passed since those brave men are gone, | |
| And those cold icy waters are still and they're calm. | |
| Many years have passed, but still I wonder why | |
| The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die. | |
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Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-45: Destroyers
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Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945