Divers find WWI Navy destroyer, the first to be sunk by enemy fire

READ OF THE DAY

Divers find WWI Navy destroyer, the first to be sunk by enemy fire
By Jonathan Lehrfeld
Thursday, Aug 18
The destroyer Jacob Jones (DD-61) sinks off the Scilly Islands, England, on Dec. 6, 1917, after she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-53. (Seaman William G. Ellis, Smithsonian Institution photograph/Courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command)

The wreckage of the USS Jacob Jones, a Tucker-class destroyer, and the first ship of its kind to be sunk by enemy fire, was recently discovered off the southwest coast of England by a group of UK diving experts.

The WWI destroyer was hit Dec. 6, 1917, by a German torpedo, killing 64 of the 110 officers and crew onboard, according to Naval History and Heritage Command.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk SGT Charlie Lee SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) SFC (Join to see) SPC Michael Terrell SMSgt Anil Heendeniya CPL Douglas Chrysler A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney GySgt Jack Wallace SGT Mark Anderson CPL LaForest Gray SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM A1C Pamela G Russell PV2 Larry Sellnow