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Size | Image Description | Contributed By And/Or Copyright |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
 0615301 |
271k | Reuben James was born in Delaware, Ohio about 1776. He joined the Navy and served on various ships, including the frigate USS Constellation. During
the Barbary Wars, 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.
Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, along with a group of volunteers that included Reuben James, entered the harbor of Tripoli under the cover of darkness in an attempt to burn the Philadelphia
so that the pirates could not make use of her. The American volunteers boarded the Philadelphia on 16 February 1804 and were met by a group of Barbary pirates who were guarding their prize. During the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, Reuben James, with both of his hands already wounded, positioned himself between Lieutenant Decatur and a sword-wielding pirate. Reuben James, willing to give his life in defense of his captain, took the blow from the sword but survived and recovered from his wounds. Reuben James continued his career in the U.S. Navy, including many years with Decatur. James was forced to retire in January 1836 because of declining health brought on because of past wounds. He died on 03 December 1838 at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Washington DC. USS Reuben James (DE 153) (1943-1947) was the second ship named in his honor, preceded by DD 245 (1920-1941), and succeeded by FFG 57 (1986-2013). |
Robert M. Cieri | |
 0615302 |
30k | Date Unknown: Norfolk, Va. - Reuben James (DE 153) and Sims (DE 154) at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va. | Nick Tiberio Shelton, Conn. | |
 0615306 |
90k | late 1943: off Boston, Mass. - USS Reuben James (DE 153) taken whilst on commissioning trials. Note all depth charge racks are empty, and No. 1 gun is
trained on the starboard beam, with an audience, obviously for its' very first round! (Photos and text taken from "American Destroyer Escorts of World War 2" by Peter Elliott) |
Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom | |
 0615303 |
15k | Undated Wartime Image | - | |
 0615304 |
131k | Undated Wartime Image | John Klar Somerville, N.J. | |
 0615305 |
126k | Undated Post-War Image (Note that Reuben James is in her DER configuration as a radar picket. This dates her between November 1945 when the conversion was completed and July 1947 when she entered the shipyard for inactivation.) |
David Buell | |
 136k
 122k
 113kMarch 1970: Dahlgren, Va. - The ex-USS Reuben James (DE 153) lying in the mud on the bottom of the Potomac River, courtesy of the Naval Weapons Laboratory, Dahlgren, Va. While attending Deep Sea Diving School, we were fortunate enough to get on the job training re-floating the ex-USS Reuben James in 1970. It was accidentally sunk by the weapons lab. On Friday, 13 March 1970, while doing a number of explosive tests on the super structure, with hatches open, she received a number of hits below the water line. The weekend came, everyone booked, and she rolled over on her side and sank Saturday morning in the dark. At the stern is USS YRST-2 (HCU-2 at D&S Piers, Norfolk, VA). A great experience, especially being down range when Weapons Lab unexpectedly shot their fixed "BIG GUNS", everyone ducked and covered, we did not know that they were there, much less that they were going to be shooting at us. (Photo #2: Ron Buice on board the YSD-53). (for description of work, see: SALVOPS 70). (Photos courtesy of Ron Buice) 0615307 - 0615308 - 0615309 |
Peter Korbet | |||
| Reuben James History |
| View the USS Reuben James (DE 153) DANFS history entry located on the Wikipedia web site. |
| Reuben James' Commanding Officers Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves |
| Dates of Command | Commanding Officers |
|---|---|
| 1.) 01 Apr. 1943 - 13 Apr. 1943 | Lcdr. Frank Daniel Giambattista, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA '27) (Boonton, N.J.) (ret. as Radm.) |
| 2.) 13 Apr. 1943 - 06 Oct. 1943 | Lcdr. Alfred Edward Sharp, Jr., USNR (USNA '31) (Baltimore, Md.) |
| 3.) 06 Oct. 1943 - 30 Nov. 1943 | Lcdr. George Samuel Joseph Forde, USNR (Miami, Fla.) |
| 01 Dec. 1943 - 31 Dec. 1943 | Reconstructed |
| 4.) 01 Jan. 1944 - 17 Sep. 1944 | Lcdr. Vernon Aaron Isaacs, USNR (Chicago, Ill.) |
| 5.) 17 Sep. 1944 - 31 Oct. 1945 | Lcdr. Grant Cowherd, USNR |
| 6.) 24 Jul. 1946 - 01 Aug. 1946 | Lcdr. Francis Egar Kinne (USNA '42) (Norfolk, Va.) |
| 7.) 01 Aug. 1946 - 01 Sep. 1947 | Lt. Harry George Anderson |
| 8.) 01 Sep. 1947 - 11 Oct. 1947 | Lt. Charles Hilary Hayden, USN (Decomm. CO) (Baltimore, Md.) |
Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry
is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs
available. Please see the
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