The Sinking of the Reuben James

"The Sinking of the Reuben Jame"
Song by Almanac Singers
Written	1941-1942
Published	1942
Composer(s)	music from "Wildwood Flower" by Joseph Philbrick Webster
Lyricist(s)	Woody Guthrie

“The Sinking of the Reuben James” is a song by Woody Guthrie about the sinking of the U.S. convoy escort, the Reuben James, which was the first U.S. naval ship sunk by German U-boats in World War II. Woody Guthrie had started to write a song including each name on the casualty list of the sinking. This was later replaced by the chorus “tell me what were their names.”

The song is set to the melody of "Wildwood Flower", an antebellum tune by Joseph Philbrick Webster.

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