USS Jacob Jones ( DD - 130 ) USS " Jacob Jones " ( DD - 130 ) , named for Commodore Jacob Jones USN ( 1768 – 1850 ) , was a . " Jacob Jones " was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden , New Jersey on 21 February 1918 , launched on 20 November 1918 by Mrs . Cazenove Doughton , great - granddaughter of Commodore Jones and commissioned on 20 October 1919 , Lieutenant Commander P . H . Bastedo in command . She was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 during World War II . Service history . " Jacob Jones " was decommissioned on 24 June 1922 and placed in reserve until recommissioned on 1 May 1930 , and was assigned to Neutrality Patrol duties out of Charleston , South Carolina on 4 April 1940 . Inter - war period . After fitting out at Philadelphia , " Jacob Jones " sailed 4 December for shakedown in the Atlantic . She arrived at Pensacola , Florida , 22 December to continue her training and departed 3 January 1920 for the Pacific . Arriving San Diego 26 January , she operated along the California coast on antiaircraft and firing exercises . She entered Mare Island Navy Yard 17 August for repairs and overhaul and assumed a reserve status . Returning to duty with Destroyer Force , Pacific Fleet , 18 June 1921 , she operated out of San Diego until decommissioning 24 June 1922 . Recommissioned 1 May 1930 , " Jones " trained in coastal waters from Alaska to Mexico as a plane guard for the Navy ' s budding aircraft carrier s . Following Battle Fleet maneuvers during August , she entered Mare Island in November for repairs . The destroyer sailed 4 February 1931 for Panama , where she resumed plane guard duty for . " Jones " transited the Panama Canal 22 March , and sailed for maneuvers in the Caribbean . She sailed for the United States 1 May and took part in joint Army - Navy maneuvers in the Chesapeake Bay 26 to 29 May . During the remainder of the summer , she operated with Destroyer Division 7 along the New England coast before retiring to the Boston Navy Yard 2 October for overhaul . " Jacob Jones " steamed from Boston 1 December for maneuvers off Haiti . On 13 February 1932 she departed the Caribbean to begin 13 months of plane guard duty and torpedo practice along California . She returned to Guantánamo Bay , Cuba , 1 May 1933 for general drill and battle problem exercises , and on the 26th she sailed for Norfolk to undergo self - upkeep on rotating reserve . Following 2 months of overhaul at Charleston , " Jones " returned to Guantanamo 29 November for scouting and firing exercises . She interrupted her maneuvers 29 June 1934 , and sailed for Port - au - Prince , Haiti , where she served as an escort during President Franklin D . Roosevelt ' s " Good Neighbor " visit to Haiti . She resumed Caribbean operations in July and participated in landing force exercises at Guantanamo Bay during September . She retired from the Caribbean late in November and entered Norfolk Navy Yard 3 December 1934 for several months of upkeep . In May 1935 , " Jones " embarked midshipmen from the Naval Academy for an Atlantic training cruise . She returned to Norfolk 7 June for 3 months of coastal patrols and maneuvers . She steamed to New York in September to participate in destroyer maneuvers and operated out of New York until entering Brooklyn Navy Yard January 1936 for upkeep and inspection . On 15 June 1936 , " Jones " departed New York with reserve officers on board for training cruises in the Caribbean which continued through September . In October , she participated in joint Army - Navy coastal maneuvers ; and , following her annual inspection at Norfolk , she participated in minesweeping training during February 1937 . In March , she trained officers of the 5th Fleet Reserve and in June she resumed training cruises for midshipmen . She continued to operate as a practice ship for reserve officers until 15 January 1938 , when she departed Norfolk for fleet landing exercises and battle maneuvers in waters off Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands . " Jones " returned to Norfolk 13 March for overhaul . In June she resumed operations out of Norfolk , serving as a carrier plane guard and conducting torpedo and gunnery practice . After attending the Presidential Regatta in September , " Jones " prepared to sail for Europe to join Squadron 40 - T in the Mediterranean . Organized in September 1936 to protect and evacuate Americans from Spain during the civil war , the squadron remained in the western Mediterranean . Departing Norfolk 26 October , " Jones " reached Gibraltar 6 November , and arrived Villefranche 17 November . She operated out of that French Mediterranean port on patrol until 20 March 1939 . She visited Algiers 24 to 25 March 1939 and , during the next 7 months , steamed to various Atlantic European ports from Rotterdam to Lisbon . Departing Lisbon 4 October , she sailed for the United States and anchored at Norfolk the 14th . Resuming her coastal operations , " Jones " conducted plane screening patrols from Norfolk to Newport , and in December she escorted during its Caribbean shakedown . World War II . After 2 months of upkeep and inspection at Norfolk , " Jacob Jones " sailed for Charleston 4 April 1940 to join the Neutrality Patrol . Organized in September 1939 as a response to the war in Europe , the Neutrality Patrol was ordered to track and report the movements of any warlike operations of belligerents in the waters of the Western Hemisphere . The basic purpose of the patrol " was to emphasize the readiness of the United States Navy to defend the Western Hemisphere . " In June , after 2 months of duty with the Neutrality Patrol , " Jones " returned to training midshipmen . In September , " Jones " departed Norfolk for New London , Connecticut , where her crew underwent intensive ASW sound school training . Returning briefly to Norfolk 6 December , she sailed to Key West for further ASW training . She resumed her operations with the Neutrality Patrol in March 1941 , patrolling the waters from Key West to Yucatan Channel . In May , she joined the ships which guarded the waters of Vichy - controlled islands , Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles . " Jones " maintained her Caribbean operations throughout the summer . On 30 September 1941 , she departed Guantanamo with Destroyer Division 54 to prepare for escort duty in the North Atlantic . " Jones " received 2 months of upkeep and inspection at Norfolk and on 1 December 1941 , departed for convoy escort training along the New England coast . Clearing Boston Harbor 12 December , she sailed to NS Argentia , Newfoundland , to begin her escort duty . On 16 December she escorted and through heavy seas to Boston and returned to Argentia the 24th . " Jones " once again departed Argentia 4 January 1942 escorting and . While steaming to join Convoy SC 63 , bound for the British Isles , " Jones " made an underwater contact and commenced a depth charge attack . Losing contact with the submarine , she escorted her ships to the convoy and returned to Argentia 5 January . Sailing from Argentia 14 January 1942 , " Jones " joined Convoy HX 169 , which was headed for Iceland . The convoy encountered a violent storm ; heavy seas and winds of force 9 scattered its ships ' convoy . Separated from the convoy , " Jones " steamed independently for Hvalfjörður , Iceland . Though hampered by a shortage of fuel , an inoperable gyro compass , an erratic magnetic compass , and the continuous pounding of the storm , " Jones " arrived on the 19th . Five days later , she escorted three merchant ships to Argentia . Once again heavy seas and fierce winds separated the ships , and " Jones " continued toward Argentia with one Norwegian merchantman . She detected and attacked another submarine 2 February 1942 , but her depth charge s yielded no visible results . Arriving Argentia the 3rd , she departed the following day and rejoined Convoy ON 59 , bound for Boston . Reaching Boston 8 February , " Jacob Jones " received a week of repairs . She sailed on the 15th for Norfolk and 3 days later steamed from Norfolk to New York . In an effort to stem the losses to Allied merchant shipping along the Atlantic coast , Vice Admiral Adolphus Andrews , Commander of the Eastern Sea Frontier , established a roving ASW patrol . " Jones " , Lieutenant Commander Hugh Black in command , departed New York 22 February for this duty . While passing the swept channel off Ambrose Light Ship , " Jones " made a possible submarine contact and attacked immediately . For 5 hours , " Jones " ran 12 attack patterns , dropping some 57 depth charges . Oil slicks appeared during the last six attacks , but no other debris was detected . Having expended all her charges , " Jones " returned to New York to rearm . Subsequent investigation failed to reveal any conclusive evidence of a sunken submarine . Fate . On the morning of 27 February 1942 , " Jacob Jones " departed New York harbor and steamed southward along the New Jersey coast to patrol and search the area between Barnegat Light and Five Fathom Bank . Shortly after her departure , she received orders to concentrate her patrol activity in waters off Cape May and the Delaware Capes . At 1530 she spotted the burning wreckage of tanker " R . P . Resor " , torpedoed the previous day east of Barnegat Light ; " Jones " circled the ship for two hours searching for survivors before resuming her southward course . Cruising at a steady 15 knots through calm seas , she last reported her position at 2000 and then commenced radio silence . A full moon lit the night sky and visibility was good ; throughout the night the ship , completely darkened without running or navigation lights showing , kept her southward course . At the first light of dawn 28 February 1942 , undetected fired a spread of torpedo es at the unsuspecting destroyer . The torpedoes were not detected and two or three struck the destroyer ' s port side in rapid succession . According to her survivors , the first torpedo struck just aft of the bridge and caused major damage . Apparently , it exploded the ship ' s magazine ; the resulting blast sheared off everything forward of the point of impact , destroying completely the bridge , the chart room , and the officers ' and petty officers ' quarters . As she stopped dead in the water , unable to signal a distress message , a second torpedo struck about 40 feet forward of the fantail and carried away the after part of the ship above the keel plates and shafts and destroyed the after crew ' s quarters . Only the midships section was left intact . All but 25 or 30 officers and men , including Lieutenant Commander Black , were killed by the explosions . The survivors , including a badly wounded , " practically incoherent " signal officer , went for the lifeboats . Oily decks , fouled lines and rigging , and the clutter of the ship ' s strewn twisted wreckage hampered their efforts to launch the boats . " Jones " remained afloat for about 45 minutes , allowing her survivors to clear the stricken ship in four or five rafts . Within an hour of the initial explosion " Jones " plunged bow first into the cold Atlantic ; as her shattered stern disappeared , her depth charges exploded , killing several survivors on a nearby raft ( as had happened to the in 1917 ) . At 0810 , an Army observation plane sighted the life rafts and reported their position to of the Inshore Patrol . By 1100 , when strong winds and rising seas forced her to abandon her search , she had rescued 12 survivors , one of whom died en route to Cape May . The search for the other survivors of " Jones " continued by plane and ship for the next two days , but none were ever found .