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Who is credited with sinking the first United States warship in World War II?
Question
#44012. Asked by hammer56. (Feb 03 04 7:49 PM)
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jbean
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The first ship sinking listed by the Navy is the USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941
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Senior Moments
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It does depend on from whose viewpoint you mean. From a British point of view I would agree but from an American point of view, technically America was not in the war then as they declared war the day after Pearl Harbour.
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McGruff
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Oct 31, 1941 - While escorting convoy HX-156, the American destroyer U.S.S. Reuben James was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of 115 of 160 crewmen, including all officers. Although not the first U.S. Navy ship torpedoed before the war, the Reuben James was the first one lost.
 http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2timeline/reubenjames.html
Based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, she sailed from Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland on October 23, 1941, with four other destroyers to escort eastbound convoy HX-156. While escorting that convoy at about 0525, October 31, 1941, Reuben James was torpedoed by the "Red Devils" of U-552 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Erich Topp near Iceland. Of the 159-man crew, only 44 survived.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Reuben_James_(DD-245)
Unterseeboot 552 was a German Type VIIC submarine. She went into service on 4 December 1940. U-552 was nicknamed the Roter Teufel ("Red Devil") after its mascot of a grinning devil which was painted on the conning tower. She was one of the more successful of her class, operating for over three years of continual service and sinking or damaging 30 Allied ships with 164,276 tons sunk and 26,910 tons damaged.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unterseeboot_552
The first US naval vessel sunk after the US declared war on Japan was the minesweeper Penquin, by horizontal bomber, Guam, Marianas Islands, on Dec 8, 1941.
http://www.navsource.org/Naval/1941.htm
The first American vessel to be sunk during World War II was the merchant vessel City of Rayville on Nov 8, 1940 off Australia's southeastern coast after striking a German mine.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512032,00.html
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