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NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Reuben James (DE-153)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - W - X - N

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal

Class: Buckley      Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,400 tons (std) 1,740 tons (full)   Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 9" x 13' 6" (max)
Armament: 3-3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1-1.1"/75 Mk2 quad AA (4x1), 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1),
1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Machinery: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 knots   Range: 4,940 nm @ 12 knots   Crew: 15 / 198

Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Norfolk NSY on 7 September 1942, Launched 6 February 1943
Commissioned 1 April 1943, Decommissioned 11 October 1947
Stricken 30 June 1968

Fate: used as explosives test ship, 1968 - 1971
sunk as target 1 March 1971

Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
271k	Reuben James was born in Delaware, Ohio about 1776. He joined the Navy and served on various ships, including the frigate USS *Constellation. During the Barbary Wars, the American frigate Philadelphia* was captured by the Barbary pirates, when it ran aground in the city of Tripoli, on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, along with a group of volunteers that included Reuben James, entered the harbor of Tripoli under the cover of darkness in an attempt to burn the *Philadelphia* so that the pirates could not make use of her. The American volunteers boarded the *Philadelphia* on 16 February 1804 and were met by a group of Barbary pirates who were guarding their prize. During the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, Reuben James, with both of his hands already wounded, positioned himself between Lieutenant Decatur and a sword-wielding pirate. Reuben James, willing to give his life in defense of his captain, took the blow from the sword but survived and recovered from his wounds. Reuben James continued his career in the U.S. Navy, including many years with Decatur. James was forced to retire in January 1836 because of declining health brought on because of past wounds. He died on 3 December 1838 at the US Naval Hospital in Washington DC. USS *Reuben James* (DE-153) is named in his honor, as was DD-245.	Robert M. Cieri
25k	Date Unknown: Norfolk VA - *Reuben James* (DE-153) and *Sims* (DE-154) at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.	-
15k	undated wartime image	-
131k	undated wartime image	John Klar
126k	undated wartime image (Note that Reuben James is in her DER configuration as a radar picket. This dates her between November 1945 when the conversion was completed and July 1947 when she entered the shipyard for inactivation.)	David Buell

View the USS Reuben James (DE-153), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center web site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: John B. Lampe
Address: 121 Lucas Drive / Bordentown NJ 08505-1406
Phone: (609) 298-7293

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

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Page Last Updated 15 February 2008