The first American naval ship lost in World War II was not sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Over a month before, on October 31, 1941, the destroyer USS Reuben James, escorting a convoy bound for Britain, was sunk by a torpedo from a German submarine, U552 near Iceland. Of the 159-man crew, only 44 survived. This was the third attack by German submarines on US destroyers. On September 1941, the destroyer USS Greer exchanged fire with a German submarine, but was not hit. Then, on October 17th, the destroyer USS Kearny was hit by a German torpedo but survived. Eleven crew members were killed and 22 injured in the attack.
The sinking of the Reuben James was memorialized by the American folk singer Woody Guthrie:
A really great book is “Woody, Cisco, and Me” by Jim Longhi. It’s a memoir of Jim Longhi when he shipped out with his buddies Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston in the merchant marine during the war. It’s one of my favorite books ever (alongside with “Dr. Dogbody’s Leg”).