USS Reuben James (DE-153)

USS Reuben James (DE-153), a Buckley-class destroyer escort, was the second ship of the United States Navy named for a Boatswain's Mate who distinguished himself fighting the Barbary pirates. Her keel was laid down on 7 September 1942, launched on 6 February 1943, and commissioned on 1 April 1943, with Lieutenant Commander Frank D. Giambattista in command. She was with a crew of 213, capable of 23.5 knots, and equipped with a main armament of two 5-inch guns, three 3-inch guns, and three 21-inch torpedo tubes. First based in Miami, Florida, she conducted anti-submarine patrols and provided training in convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare. In March, 1944, she shifted homeport from Miami to Norfolk, Virginia. In June 1944, she escorted a convoy from New York to Norfolk. Between 13 July and 7 November 1944, Reuben James successfully escorted two convoys to the Mediterranean, returning with westbound convoys. During the ship's first eastbound voyage, nine German bombers attacked its convoy off Algeria on 1 August 1944. Reuben James shot down one enemy bomber. Returning to Boston on 7 November 1944, she joined an anti-submarine group operation in the North Atlantic. Operating south of Newfoundland, Reuben James was present when the USS Buckley (DE-51) sank German submarine U-879 on 19 April 1945. Arriving at Houston, Texas on 4 July 1945 Reuben James completed conversion to a radar picket ship on 25 November 1945 and was subsequently employed in the Atlantic and the Caribbean while being stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. She was decommissioned on 11 October 1947.

For other ships of this name, see USS Reuben James.