USS Jarvis ( DD - 393 ) USS " Jarvis " ( DD - 393 ) , a " Bagley " - class destroyer , was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for James C . Jarvis , a U . S . Navy midshipman who was killed at the age of 13 during the Quasi - War with France . The second " Jarvis " ( DD - 393 ) was laid down by Puget Sound Navy Yard , Bremerton , Washington , 21 August 1935 ; launched 6 May 1937 ; sponsored by Mrs Thomas T . Craven , wife of Vice Admiral Craven ; and commissioned 27 October 1937 , Lieutenant Commander R . R . Ferguson in command . Pre - war . Clearing Puget Sound 4 January 1938 , " Jarvis " operated along the California coast and in the Caribbean until 1 April 1940 when she departed San Diego for fleet exercises off the Hawaiian Islands . She arrived Pearl Harbor 26 April , cruised the Pacific to Midway and Johnston Islands , and steamed to San Francisco 8 February 1941 for overhaul . Returning to Pearl Harbor 17 April to commence more than seven months of intensive maneuvers as part of Destroyer Division Eight ( DesDiv 8 ) of Destroyer Squadron Four , she put into Pearl Harbor 4 December following exercises off Maui Island . Attack on Pearl Harbor . Three days later the Japanese executed the carefully planned , devastating attack on Pearl Harbor . Moored next to " Mugford " ( DD - 389 ) in berth B6 of the Navy yard for minor repairs , " Jarvis " opened fire with 5 - inch guns and machine guns and made preparations to get underway . Within minutes of the initial attack , her 5 - inch guns were among the first to challenge the enemy raiders , and her gunners proudly claimed four planes . As the first wave of enemy bombers raked Battleship Row with torpedoes and bombs , Ensign W . F . Greene laconically appraised the situation with the following entry in " Jarvis " ' Deck Log : " 0758 Hostilities with Japan commenced with air raid on Pearl Harbor . Went to General Quarters . " Emerging from the attack with no loss of crew and only superficial damage , Jarvis sortied that morning with several cruisers and destroyers to conduct surveillance and ASW patrols . First war cruises . On the 16th she cleared Pearl Harbor with " Saratoga " ( CV - 3 ) and joined Task Force 14 , steaming to relieve the beleaguered defenders on Wake Atoll . Recalled to Pearl Harbor 23 December , after the rescue mission aborted , Jarvis returned the 29th to resume ASW patrols . While operating with " Lexington " ( CV - 2 ) and her screening cruisers , Jarvis rescued 182 survivors of the stricken fleet oiler " Neches " ( AO - 5 ) 6 hours after she was torpedoed during mid - watch 23 January 1942 . " Jarvis " departed Pearl Harbor 5 February to escort a convoy to Brisbane , Australia . Following her return 27 March , she sailed 8 April for San Francisco to undergo alterations with the other ships of DesRon Four . She returned to Pearl 18 May escorting 13 ships and proceeded 5 days later via Fiji to Sydney , Australia . Arriving 18 June , she commenced convoy escort and ASW patrols from Australia to New Caledonia , continuing this duty until called to participate in the invasion of Guadalcanal . Guadalcanal campaign . Steaming from Sydney 14 July , " Jarvis " arrived Wellington , New Zealand , the 19th to join Task Force 62 , which sailed 22 July for the Solomons . After conducting rehearsal landings in the Fiji Islands 28 – 30 July , the invasion force of 84 ships and 20 , 000 marines steamed for Guadalcanal 31 July . Protected from Japanese search planes by rain and heavy mists , the force arrived off the landing beaches at dawn 7 August . Following naval and air bombardment of enemy defenses , the first amphibious operation of the war commenced at 0650 . " Jarvis " patrolled watchfully as part of the protective screen while Marines established a beachhead . As landing operations progressed , Americans expected the Japanese to strike vigorously at the transports with land - based planes . However , during two attacks which occurred that afternoon the Americans sustained only minor damage on " Mugford " ( DD - 389 ) while splashing 14 enemy planes . Following night patrol off the southern end of Savo Island , Jarvis returned to Lunga Point to screen the unloading transports . Warning of an impending air attack suspended these operations ; and the transports and their protective screen of destroyers and cruisers deployed in the body of water between Guadalcanal and Florida Island , soon to be called " Ironbottom Sound " . When enemy torpedo bombers appeared about noon 8 August , they met a lethal stream of antiaircraft fire . Only 9 of the 26 planes penetrated the defensive fire , but they set " George F . Elliott " ( AP - 13 ) ablaze and torpedoed " Jarvis " . Torpedoed . With 5 - inch shells and machine gun fire pouring out at the attackers , " Jarvis " maneuvered between " Vincennes " ( CA - 44 ) and one of the planes during the thick of the fight . As antiaircraft fire consumed the plane , its torpedo exploded against " Jarvis " ' starboard side near the forward fireroom , stopping her dead in the water and killing 14 crewmen . Her crew jettisoned the port torpedoes and quickly brought under control the fires that followed the explosion . " Dewey " ( DD - 349 ) towed her to shallow anchorage off Lunga Point ; and , after the attack , she crossed " Iron - bottom Sound " to Tulagi , where she transferred her seven wounded and commenced emergency repairs . Despite a 50 - foot gash in her side , she was considered seaworthy and ordered to proceed under cover of darkness to Efate , New Hebrides , escorted by the minesweeper " Hovey " . Apparently unaware of the order because her radios had been disabled , her skipper , Lt . Comdr . William W . Graham Jr . , decided to steam to Sydney , Australia , for immediate repairs from " Dobbin " ( AD - 3 ) . Unnoticed by her own ships , " Jarvis " departed Tulagi at midnight 9 August and moved slowly westward through " Ironbottom Sound " and between Savo Island and Cape Esperance . At 0134 she passed 3 , 000 yards northward of Rear Admiral Mikawa ' s cruisers , steaming to meet the Americans at the costly Battle of Savo Island . Mistaking her for a cruiser of the New Zealand " Achilles " - class , they fired torpedoes , and destroyer " Yūnagi " later engaged her briefly , all without effect . The destroyer , continuing to retire westward , had little speed , no radio communications , and few operative guns ; but she refused aid from " Blue " ( DD - 387 ) upon being sighted at 0325 . After daybreak a " Saratoga " - based scout plane sighted her 40 miles off Guadalcanal , trailing fuel oil and down by the bow . That was the last time Americans saw her . Loss of Jarvis . The Japanese , however , still mistaking " Jarvis " for an escaping cruiser , dispatched 31 planes from Rabaul to search out and destroy her . Once discovered , the determined , but badly damaged , destroyer was no match for bombers raking the ship with bullets and torpedoes . According to Japanese records , " Jarvis " " split and sank " at 1300 on 9 August . None of her 233 remaining crew survived the onslaught . " Jarvis " received three battle stars for World War II service .