The Pittsburgh Press (November 13, 1941)
U.S. destroyer sank subs, sailor writes
Shreveport, La., Nov. 13 (UP) –
A U.S. destroyer “left some subs on the bottom,” a young Louisiana sailor wrote home to his mother, it was revealed today.
D. W. Lacobee Jr., who operates an underwater sound detector on a destroyer, told his mother, Mrs. D. W. Lacobee, that one of the submarines was:
…blown to the surface, bottom side up, and blown to bits with gunfire.
The letter said:
Coming back with our last convoy the Reuben James and the Salinas were sunk just behind us and the Kearny just ahead.
Only the Reuben James was sunk. The other two ships were damaged.
He wrote that three of the merchantmen (in the last convoy) were hit by torpedoes and that one of them hit a sub itself.
After we brought our convoy down here we were in Newfoundland one hour when we were called out at full speed to help some of the ships that were being attacked. Believe me, we left some subs on the bottom – number undetermined.