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The Sinking Of The Reuben James Words and Music by Woody Guthrie. On November 2, Almeda Edwards, wife of Lt. Cmdr. After The sinking of the Reuben James contributed to the American war sentiment, and the U.S. and Germany went to war six weeks later. Patrick Reuben James (* um 1776 in Sleaford; 3. As for a declaration of war, the New York Times noted, “The people, their Representatives in Congress and even many high officials of the government are deeply divided on the subject.” Rather than spark enlistments, Navy enlistments declined 15 percent in November 1941, something officials attributed to the loss of life on the Reuben James. Roosevelt did not break off diplomatic relations with Germany, and he stayed away from the bellicose rhetoric he had used after the Greer and Kearny attacks. A D Did you have a friend on the Good Reuben James? Word of the Reuben James sinking quickly reached the United States, but details were few. Sadly, most of the country ignored the sinking. Deadly German U-boats were prowling the North Atlantic and feasting on Allied shipping. Reuben James (DE-153), a Buckley-class destroyer escort 3. 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. The presence of the escort destroyers may have saved the crew of the Reuben James from even greater casualties. “You can’t expect to walk into a barroom brawl and hope to stay out of the fight,” he said. In connection with the list of the survivors and the list of those lost on the Reuben James, which was recently forwarded, all survivors of the Reuben James disaster have reported to this Receiving Ship with the exception of THOMPSON, James C., Sea.2c., USN, 300-43-32, and TURNBULL, Thomas P., E.M.2c., USN, 223-53-96, both of whom were seriously injured. Three warships of the Navy have been named Reuben Jamesin his honor: 1. The Sinking Of The Reuben James Lyrics The Sinking Of The Reuben James is found on the album This Land Is Your Land: The Asch Recordings, Vol. It appears it was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 contributed to U.S. war sentiment, and America entered the war in early 1917, almost two years later. For gunner’s mate Walter Sorensen, his main wish was to come home on leave just once more, “even if it is only for a few days.” “Ol’ Rube” was not as rugged or in the same class as modern destroyers like the Kearny, but “in an emergency … these craft must be used as found,” retired Admiral William V. Pratt told Newsweek magazine. After the news of the sinking reached America, many concerned people wrote letters to the Navy to find out the fate of friends or loved ones. On September 4, 1941, a German U- boat attacked the destroyer USS Greer (DD-145) as she steamed alone toward Iceland. It changed the world more than any other single event in history. Reuben James was torpedoed by the Nazis off the coast of Iceland in late October [1941], killing 86 and wounding 44, Woody was inspired to write a ballad about the incident. The Sinking of the Reuben James is a folk song written by Woody Guthrie about the ship Reuben James (DD-245) and her sinking while on convoy duty shortly before the U.S. entered World Wa… Reuben It is considered the first American naval casualty of WWII. Corbin Dyson and Charles Harris. Aboard USS Reuben James (DD 245) when hit on 31 Oct 1941 Lyrics to 'The Sinking Of The Reuben James' by Woody Guthrie. The ship was escorting an allied convoy near Iceland. A torpedo fired by U-552 hit her on the port side, ignited her forward magazine, and blew her in half. On the Reuben James, torpedoman Robert Howard recalled, “All you had was a pair of binoculars and a rubber ear to press against the skin of the ship to listen for [submarine] screw noises.”. Now the USS Reuben James became the first United States warship to be sunk as a result of hostile action in World War II. the latter part of 1941, U.S. Navy ships provided escorts for convoys #1. Of the ship’s crew, only 45 were saved; 99 sailors perished, including all seven of the ship’s officers. Sadly, most of the country ignored the sinking. The USS Reuben James DD-245 was sunk by a German U-Boat five full weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. “It’s not going down with me,” he told his wife. But there’s NEVER been anything like THIS before. Survivors on the Reuben James saw the instantaneous damage. AUTHOR: Words: Woody Guthrie & Pete Seeger w. the Almanac Singers EARLIEST DATE: November, 1941 On April 2, 1942, the same U-boat—U-552— sank the SS David H. Atwater, an unescorted collier, off the coast of Virginia. Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James. “Midships was now the bow” is how fireman Norman Hingula described it. “Choking on oil and water, they are like small animals caught in molasses,” artist Coale wrote. Disaster struck in the early morning hours of October 31, John Ryan, 43, joined the Navy after his son, John Jr., died on the Reuben James. As the crew abandoned ship, U-552 raked them with machine-gun fire, killing all but three of the 27 men. 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 I knew I had read the backstory somewhere not too long ago. It seemed like a long time.”. Woody Guthrie had started to write a song including each name on the casualty list of the sinking. “Hitler’s torpedo,” Roosevelt said, “was directed at every American,” but America did not go to war over this act of war. “With a terrific roar a column of orange flame towers high into the night as her magazines go up,” recalled Griffith Baily Coale, a naval artist sailing with the convoy. INTRO: D G What were their names, tell me, what were their E names? D C G Did you have a friend on that good Reuben James Verse 3 G G D G It was there in the dark of that uncertain night G D G That we watched for the U-boats and waited for the fight. Acting with “cold precision,” the ships and their crews rescued the few survivors. I love that song! Heywood L. “Tex” Edwards, a 1926 Naval Academy graduate and a member of the 1928 U.S. Olympic wrestling team. "The Sinking of the Reuben James" is a song by Woody Guthrie about the sinking of the U.S. convoy escort USS Reuben James, which was the first U.S. naval ship sunk by German U-boats in World War II. Others were torn apart.”. WWII Quarterly, the hardcover journal of the Second World War that is not available in bookstores or on newsstands, and can only be obtained and collected through a personal subscription through the mail. During It also includes photos of DE-153 and Guided Missile Frigate Reuben James FFG-57. On October 23, 1941, U.S. Navy destroyer USS Reuben James left Newfoundland to escort a convoy bound for Britain. "shooting war.". (Luckily, Boyd survived). - Johnny Horton Makes History - on COLUMBIA Records in 1960. The USS Reuben James was a battleship that was torpedoed by a German submarine on Halloween of 1941, becoming the first US ship sunk in World War II. She was armed with four 4-inch guns in her main battery, torpedo tubes, depth charges, and numerous antiaircraft weapons. The aft part of the ship remained afloat for about five minutes. This page has photos and a slideshow of the USS Reuben James DD-245 and German U-552 that sunk her. There are moments in military history that forever alter the flow of human events. There have been countless thousands of published works devoted to all or of it. The United States was still neutral, at least officially, but neutrality offered little solace—or protection. Edwards, wrote to her husband, “It has been two days and still no one has told me that you are coming back to me. It is accompanied by Woody Guthrie's song written shortly after the sinking of the USS Reuben James DD … The target – Reuben James – was decommissioned in 2013 after 27 years of service, which included convoy duty during the Iran-Iraq War and a nine month deployment in 2002 and 2003. When the destroyer USS Reuben James (DD-245) was assigned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic in the autumn of 1941, its crew had a sense of foreboding and feared the worst. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, From Tolkien to Hitler: Famous Soldiers of World War I, The Battle for Omaha Beach: The Men of the D-Day Invasion, Napoleon Bonaparte’s Last Campaign: The Battle of Waterloo, Operation Barbarossa: World War II’s Eastern Front, The Battle of Gettysburg: Turning Point of the American Civil War, What Made the German Luger the Most Famous Pistol in Modern Warfare, The Essential Role of Navy PBR Boats in the Vietnam War, The Real Story of General George Patton, Jr’s Death & Final Days, Colonel William O. Darby and the U.S. Army Rangers, Operation Frantic On Eastern Front: Preview Of the Cold War. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill cabled Roosevelt that he “grieved at the loss of life you have suffered with Reuben James.” In her daily newspaper column, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt wrote that she could not “help but think of every one of the 120 men and their families, who are anxiously awaiting news.” The Russian newspaper Pravda praised the United States for having “taken its fighting post,” and the London Daily Mail predicted that the United States was “marching down the last mile to a declaration of war.”. In Boston harbor, the Navy held a memorial service on the deck of the USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”), a ship well known to sailor Reuben James, as the families of the lost seamen looked on with “tear-stained, tight-lipped faces.” Six women, led by Almeda Edwards, “tossed flowers on the ebbing tide and even as they did the sun broke through the thick clouds and bathed the wreaths in its pale light,” the Associated Press reported. Although not the first U.S. Navy ship torpedoed before the war, the Reuben James was the first one lost. When Neda Boyd, wife of machinist’s mate Solon Boyd, heard the news on the radio, she “froze in the chair.” She felt a sense of doom because, when last home, her husband had told her, “I’m afraid we won’t be back this time.” Their six-year-old daughter heard the name of her dad’s ship on the radio and wept inconsolably.

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