USS Jacob Jones ( DD - 61 ) USS " Jacob Jones " ( Destroyer No . 61 / DD - 61 ) was a built for the United States Navy prior to the American entry into World War I . The ship was the first U . S . Navy vessel named in honor of Jacob Jones . " Jacob Jones " was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding of Camden , New Jersey , in August 1914 and launched in May of the following year . The ship was a little more than in length , just over abeam , and had a standard displacement of . She was armed with four guns and had eight torpedo tube s . " Jacob Jones " was powered by a pair of steam turbines that propelled her at up to . After her February 1916 commissioning , " Jacob Jones " conducted patrols off the New England coast . After the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , " Jacob Jones " was sent overseas . Patrolling the Irish Sea out of Queenstown , Ireland , " Jacob Jones " rescued the survivors of several ships , notably picking up over 300 from the sunken Armed merchant cruiser . On 6 December , " Jacob Jones " was steaming independently from Brest , France , for Queenstown , when she was torpedoed and damaged by German submarine and was scuttled with the loss of 66 officers and men , becoming the first ever United States destroyer sunk by enemy action . " Jacob Jones " sank in eight minutes without issuing a distress call ; the German submarine commander , " Kapitänleutnant " Hans Rose , after taking two badly injured " Jacob Jones " crewmen aboard his submarine , radioed the American base at Queenstown with the coordinates for the survivors . Design and construction . " Jacob Jones " was authorized in 1913 as the fifth ship of the which , like the related , was an improved version of the s authorized in 1911 . Construction of the vessel was awarded to New York Shipbuilding of Camden , New Jersey , which laid down her keel on 3 August 1914 . Ten months later , on 29 May 1915 , " Jacob Jones " was launched by sponsor Mrs . Jerome Parker Crittendon , a great - granddaughter of the ship ' s namesake , Commodore Jacob Jones ( 1768 – 1850 ) , a U . S . Navy officer during the War of 1812 . As built , " Jacob Jones " was in length and abeam and drew . The ship had a standard displacement of and displaced when fully loaded . " Jacob Jones " had two Curtis steam turbine s that drove her two screw propellers , and an additional steam turbine geared to one of the propeller shafts for cruising purposes . The power plant could generate and move the ship at speeds up to . " Jacob Jones " main battery consisted of four / 50 Mark 9 guns , with each gun weighing in excess of . The guns fired armor - piercing projectile s at . At an elevation of 20° , the guns had a range of . " Jacob Jones " was also equipped with eight torpedo tube s . The General Board of the United States Navy had called for two anti - aircraft gun s for the " Tucker " - class ships , as well as provisions for laying up to 36 floating mine s . From sources , it is unclear if these recommendations were followed for " Jacob Jones " or any of the other ships of the class . United States Navy career . USS " Jacob Jones " was commissioned into the United States Navy on 10 February 1916 under the command of Lieutenant Commander William S . Pye . Following her commissioning , " Jacob Jones " conducted training exercises off the New England coast , and then entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs . Upon the United States ' entry into World War I on 6 April 1917 , " Jacob Jones " patrolled off the coast of Virginia . She sailed from Boston for Europe on 7 May with a group of destroyers that included , and arrived at Queenstown , Ireland , on 17 May . " Jacob Jones " duties at Queenstown involved patrolling and escorting convoys in the Irish Sea and making occasional rescues of survivors of sunken ships . On 8 July , was torpedoed by German submarine some west of Fastnet Rock ; " Jacob Jones " arrived on the scene and picked up 44 survivors of the British steamship . While escorting British steamship two weeks later , lookouts on " Jacob Jones " sighted a periscope , but before the destroyer could make an attack on the submarine , torpedoed and sank the steamship . " Jacob Jones " was able to take on 26 of " Dafila " s 28 - member crew after the ship went down . On 19 October , the British Armed merchant cruiser and ten destroyers , including " Jacob Jones " , were escorting an eastbound convoy of twenty steamers , when German submarine surfaced in the midst of the group . The submarine launched its only remaining torpedo at " Orama " , sinking that vessel . While sister ship saw and depth charge d " U - 62 " ( to no avail ) , " Jacob Jones " turned her attentions to rescuing " Orama " s survivors , gathering 309 . Sinking . In early December , " Jacob Jones " helped escort a convoy to Brest , France , with five other Queenstown - based destroyers . The last to depart from Brest on the return to Ireland , " Jacob Jones " was steaming alone in a zig - zag pattern when she was spotted by " Kapitänleutnant " Hans Rose on the German submarine . At 16 : 20 on 6 December 1917 , near position , lookouts on " Jacob Jones " spotted a torpedo distant headed for the ship ' s starboard side . Despite having her rudder put hard left and emergency speed rung up , " Jacob Jones " was unable to move out of the way , and the torpedo struck her rudder . Even though the depth charges did not explode , " Jacob Jones " was adrift . The jolt had knocked out power , so the destroyer was unable to send a distress signal ; since she was steaming alone , no other ship was present to know of " Jacob Jones " predicament . Commander David W . Bagley , the destroyer ' s commander , ordered all life rafts and boats launched . He then ordered " Jacob Jones " to be scuttled , knowing that the ship ' s cargo of depth charges , set on " ready " , the ship began to sink by the stern after the scuttling charges were activated , the ship would probably detonate at any moment . As the ship continued to sink , her bow raised in the air almost vertically before she began to slip beneath the waves . At this point the depth charges began exploding , killing a number of men who had been able to escape the destroyer , and stunning many others in the water . The destroyer , the first United States destroyer ever lost to enemy action , sank eight minutes after the torpedo struck the rudder , taking with her two officers and 64 men . In the water , several of the crew — most notably Lieutenant , junior grade , Stanton F . Kalk , the officer - of - the - deck when the torpedo struck — began to get men out of the water and into the life rafts . Kalk worked in the cold Atlantic water to equalize the load among the various rafts , but died of exhaustion and exposure . Bagley noted in his official account that about 30 minutes after " Jacob Jones " sank , the German submarine surfaced about two to three miles from the collection of rafts and took one of the American sailors on board . According to Uboat . net , what Rose of " U - 53 " had done was surface and take aboard two badly injured American sailors . Rose had also radioed the American base at Queenstown with the approximate coordinates of the sinking before departing the area . Bagley , unaware of Rose ' s humanitarian gesture , left most of the food , water , and medical supplies with Lieutenant Commander John K . Richards , whom he left in charge of the assembled rafts . Bagley , Lieutenant Commander Norman Scott ( " Jacob Jones " executive officer ) and four crewmen ( brought along to row ) , set out for aid in the nearby Isles of Scilly . At 13 : 00 on 7 December , Bagley ' s group was sighted by a British patrol vessel just six nautical miles ( 11 km ) from their destination . The group was relieved to find that the British sloop had found and taken aboard most of the survivors earlier that morning ; a small group had been rescued on the night of the sinking by the American steamer . Several men were recognized for their actions in the aftermath of the torpedo attack . Kalk ( posthumously ) and Bagley received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal . Others honored included Chief Boatswain ' s Mate Harry Gibson ( posthumously ) and Chief Electrician ' s Mate L . J . Kelly , who both received the Navy Cross ; and Richards , Scott , and Chief Boatswain ' s Mate Charles Charlesworth all received letters of commendation .