Our oceans have become grave yards for the wars man has fought. It would not be until December 11, 1941, that Germany and America would be at war, as Germany backed her ally Japan, in response to America’s declaration of war on the 8th of December, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Germans claimed they were in the right, after all the ships were escorting supplies that kept England alive. Memorials were held, politicians talked, but little was done. One of the saving graces for the surviving crew was that they had been ordered to either wear or keep their life preservers near.Īmericans across the country were outraged by this hostile attack. Thankfully, other escorts managed to rescue 44 survivors, but all of the officers were missing. Many of the men knocked unconscious, died in the cold, chaotic waters. As the Reuben James went down, her depth charges, armed and ready for action, were set off, killing even more of the crew as bodies were Blowing off the entire bow, men, dead and alive, were plunged into the icy waters. As they were escorting a convoy returning from Iceland a single torpedo from U-552 suddenly hit, ripping through the hull of the ship, and igniting the forward magazine. The Reuben James lacked radar, leaving the men to search the seas with binoculars and listen for submarines by pressing their ears against the hull. Navy to shoot on site any threat to American lives. Though not at war, President Roosevelt had told the U.S. The men onboard the Reuben James were alert on that dark cold morning of October 31, 1941. Kearny was damaged by a torpedo, but managed to make it back to port, with 11 American sailors killed. Several American cargo ships had already been sunk, and earlier in October the destroyer U.S.S. Reuben James was not the first act of war against the United States. They had also been escorting cargo ships from the east coast until British ships would intercept, taking them the rest of the way to England. Why was an American Destroyer near Iceland, where a Nazi sub could sink her? As part of President Roosevelts Lend-Lease program, in which the United States sent weapons of war to Britain in return for military bases on Iceland, American war ships had been patrolling the Atlantic shores to prevent any incursions. But in 1941, something more sinister than children in costume lay beneath the waves. Halloween is a time when children dress up in costumes and enjoy candy from neighbors. 100 American sailors were killed by an unseen enemy that was not yet at war with the United States. Reuben James was sunk by a German U-boat in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, near the coast of Iceland. It was just 80 years ago today, October 31, 1941, more than a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, when an American destroyer, the U.S.S. Image courtesy of Wikicommons, Public Domain.)
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