USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137)

History

United States
Namesake:	Herbert C. Jones
Builder:	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down:	30 November 1942
Launched:	19 January 1943
Commissioned:	21 July 1943
Decommissioned:	2 May 1947
Struck:	1 July 1972
Honours and awards:	3 Battle stars for World War II and Navy Unit Commendation
Fate:	Sold 19 July 1973, scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type:	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load
Length:	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam:	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft:	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion:	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4.5 MW), 2 screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range:	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots (17,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement:	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament:	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3 × 1) 2 × 40 mm AA guns (1 × 2) 8 × 20 mm AA guns (8 × 1) 3 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (1 × 3) 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named in honor of Herbert Charpoit Jones, who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his brave actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. She was launched 19 January 1943 by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Ruth Jones, widow; and commissioned 21 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. Alfred W. Gardes, Jr., in command.

After a Caribbean shakedown, Herbert C. Jones reported to the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., to participate in experiments on the method of control used by the Nazis in their glider bombs.

The new destroyer escort departed Norfolk, Virginia, 7 October for the Mediterranean, arriving Algiers via Gibraltar 16 October to begin a year of escort duty along the North African coast. In a German attack 6 November, Herbert C. Jones destroyed one enemy plane. As she escorted a convoy bound from Algiers to Bizerte, Herbert C. Jones distinguished herself in an intensive 2-hour German attack the afternoon of 26 November. In addition to splashing one fighter, the ship studied the performance characteristics of enemy radio-directed glider bombs. As a result of these under-fire investigations, Herbert C. Jones and her sister ship Frederick C. Davis were fitted with powerful radio-jamming sets in early December to counteract and misdirect the glider bombs. This new electronic warfare capability was to find almost immediate use as Herbert C. Jones patrolled off the Italian coast 22 January 1944 while Allied troops stormed ashore to establish the Anzio beachhead. With her special gear, Herbert C. Jones jammed and decoyed into the sea the great majority of the many glider bombs directed at the naval task force. She also intercepted radio messages which enabled her to give warning of impending German air attacks. Herbert C. Jones received the Navy Unit Commendation for her work off Anzio.

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