Reuben James was born in Delaware, Ohio about 1776. He joined the U.S. Navy and served on various ships, including the frigate USS Constellation. During the Barbary Wars, the American frigate USS Philadelphia was captured by the Barbary pirates when it ran aground in the pirate capital of Tripoli, on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, along with a group of volunteers that included Boatswain's Mate Reuben James, entered the harbor of Tripoli under the cover of darkness in an attempt to burn the Philadelphia so that the pirates could not make use of her.The American volunteers boarded the Philadelphia on 16 February 1804 and were met by a group of Barbary pirates who were guarding their prize. During the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, Reuben James, with both of his hands already wounded, positioned himself between Lieutenant Decatur and a swordwielding pirate. Reuben James, willing to give his life in defense of his captain, took the blow from the sword but survived and recovered from his wounds.
Reuben James continued his career in the U.S. Navy, including many years with Decatur. James was forced to retire in January 1836 because of declining health brought on because of past wounds. He died on 3 December 1838 at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.
(DE-153: dp. 1,400; 1. 306' b. 36'10" dr. 13'6"; s. 23 k.; cpl. 213; a. 3 3"/50, 3 21" tt.; cl. Buckley :)
The second Reuben James (DE-153) 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. DE-153 was a Buckley Class destroyer escort with a crew of 213, capable of 23.5 knots, and a main armament of two 5 inch guns, three 3 inch guns, and three 21 inch torpedo tubes.
First based at Miami, Florida, Reuben James conducted anti-submarine patrols and provided training in convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare. In March, 1944, it shifted its base from Miami to Norfolk, Virginia. In June 1944, it escorted a convoy from New York to Norfolk.
Between 13 July and 7 November 1944, it escorted two convoys to the Mediterranean, returning with westbound convoys. During the ships 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 1994, it 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. Subsequently, it operated in the Atlantic and the Caribbean out of Norfolk, Virginia. DE-153 was decommissioned on 11 October 1947.