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Reuben James (thing)
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(
thing
)
by
Gone Jackal
Sat Nov 25 2000 at 21:14:47
Several things:
Seaman
(all right, actually a
boatswain
) in the navy during the
Tripolitan
wars. Famous for his role as part of a
boarding party
to recapture or sink the
U.S.S.
Philidelphia
, which had been taken by
pirate
s, during which he took a
cutlass
to the
head
which was aimed at his
captain
, and surviving
A
destroyer
in the
Atlantic
fleet
, the U.S.S. Reuben James, named for the aforementioned boatswain, was commissioned in 1919, and was among the first ships put on
convoy
duty during
World War 2
. While escorting an
ammunition
ship in late 1941, she was torpedoed by a
German
u-boat
; the ship's
magazine
was hit and exploded. Only 44 of the 144-man crew survived. She was the first American ship sunk by
hostile
action during that war.
All right; I'll cheat. There were two more ships by that name. The second was commissioned in 1942, also on escort and convoy duty in the Atlantic. After sinking a whole bunch of shit, she was decommissioned in 1947. The third is a guided-missile
frigate
, launched in 1985 and still in service. I believe her current
home port
is in
Hawaii
.
A song by
the Kingston Trio
about the first U.S.S. Reuben James, which has the chorus:
Have you heard of the ship called the good Reuben James? Run by hard fighting men both of
honor
and of
fame
.
She flew the
stars and stripes
of the
land of the free
, but tonight she's in her grave at the bottom of the sea.
Oh tell me, what were their names? Tell me, what were their names?
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?
The Testament of Reuben
The Kingston Trio
Boatswain
Battle of the Atlantic
William J. Perry
seaman
Destroyer