In Memory

Verba David Jones (Lawn Longhorns) - Class Of 1939

Verba David Jones (Lawn Longhorns)

Verba David Jones

(March 3, 1921 ~ August 5, 1943)

Verba David Jones, son of Rastus J. Jones and Agnes Floy Mitchell.  Died at Sea; East Coast Memorial, Tablets of the missing, Manhattan, New York County, New York.


US NAVY WORLD WAR II
Electrician's Mate 3rd Class, Verba D. Jones MIA/KIA
Entered the service from Texas
Ship: USS Plymouth PG-57
Service #6175767
Awards: Purple Heart
Captain: Lt. Ormsby M. Mitchel Jr., USNR

Target: Convoy escort to Key West
Mission Date: 5-Aug-43
Location: Near Cape Henry
Cause: U-Boat Torpedo
Crew: 176 87MIA/KIA 4KIA

He was lost at sea on the patrol gunboat, USS Plymouth, which was sunk off the coast of North Carolina caused by an explosion. This was on the first ship assigned him after completion of his training at Great Lakes Naval Training station. He entered service Aug. 26, 1942.

On her last voyage USS Plymouth left New York to escort a convoy to Key West when on Aug. 5, 1943 the U-566 slammed a torpedo into her. The ship took on a heavy list and sank in two minuets. Her commander, Lt. Ormsby M. Mitchel Jr., USNR was terribly wounded when he was thrown into a bulkhead after the explosion, but continued to oversee the abandonment of the ship. He survived, but lost a leg from his injuries. For his devotion to duty he was awarded the Navy Cross. Because of the swiftness of the sinking ninty-one crewmen were killed, four died of wounds the following day. Only eighty-five survivors were picked up and landed at Norfolk

This ship was built by the Germans in 1931 and twelve years later she was sunk by the Germans. The USS Plymouth PG-57 began life as the yacht Alva, built at Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany for William K. Vanderbilt II. He used the ship on expeditions to the South Pacific, Mediterranean and South America from 1931 to 1935. On Nov. 4, 1941 he gave the ship to the U.S. Navy, they converted her into a patrol gunboat and used her for convoy escort duty along the U.S. east coast and to Cuba.

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USS Plymouth Crew