At the first light of dawn 28 February 1942, undetected German submarine U-578 fired a spread of torpedoes 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 Jacob Jones (DD-61) in 1917).
At 0810, an Army observation plane sighted the life rafts and reported their position to Eagle 56 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.
Entered the service from: California.
Personnel MIA/KIA with USS Jacob Jones " Click Here "
At the first light of dawn 28 February 1942, undetected German submarine U-578 fired a spread of torpedoes 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 Jacob Jones (DD-61) in 1917).
At 0810, an Army observation plane sighted the life rafts and reported their position to Eagle 56 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.
Entered the service from: California.
Personnel MIA/KIA with USS Jacob Jones " Click Here "
Bio by: Betty Allen
Inscription
GM3C, US NAVY WORLD WAR II
Family Members
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Montra Gay Owens McPherson
1915–1968
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Oma Owens Minor
1917–2007
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Junior Owens
1919–1919
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SM2 Muriel Grant Owens
1921–1944
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Emery Holly Owens
1923–1994
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Susan Virginia Owens Ladd
1925–2007
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Bonnie Jean Owens Bradshaw
1928–1984
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Herschel Lee Owens
1931–2010
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Ethel Grace Owens
1935–1935
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Lincoln McKinsey Owens
1936–2019
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