Letters

USS Jarvis

Dear Sir,

I found your website during my search for information regarding the USS JARVIS. You mentioned  Payne's book on HMAS CANBERRA and this book has photos of the USS Jarvis ? I would be so appreciative of any photos that you might have available to send me via email of the USS Jarvis from that book. My mother-in-law's brother served on the Jarvis and it would mean so much to have any additional history. It's so regrettable that we were not alive at the time when he was a young man and never got the chance to know him.

Though the words of the history of the dreadful days in August of 1942 are very difficult to read ,  it is important to always remember in our hearts the sacrifice of the men & women who served for our freedom...... Thank you for your amazing website, I have bookmarked it to return to read more of your very interesting articles. I look forward to your reply and thank you in advance for any help with my request.

Take care,
Kathleen


Hello Kathleen,

Thank you for your very kind words, Ahoy is a joint effort, my friend Terry in Atlanta Georgia set up my site which he runs from there, I supply the content.

I will be delighted to send you whatever I have about USS Jarvis who came to a nasty end at the hands of Japanese aircraft so long ago.

That is not meant to diminish the sacrifice of all the Allied sailors who died in all the battles around the Solomons in 1942, many of them your fellow countrymen.

I have always held, and of course have said so in some of my articles, that in my view the Pacific War and eventual victory all stemmed from those fateful days in 1942.

As a start, a page about your destroyer is attached. I will send other material along as I find it for you.

I am fascinated to find so much interest still being shown, particularly by our young people in the early Naval History of the war I took part in across the Pacific Ocean.

Best Regards,
Mackenzie Gregory.

Find more pictures of the Jarvis here:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/393.htm

 

USS Jarvis

 

 


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More images: Naval Historical Center Photographic Section

Lost with all hands, USS Jarvis, DD 393, was the first destroyer casualty in the

James C. Jarvis, born in 1787, was appointed midshipman from New York in 1799.
     Only 13, midshipman Jarvis was killed during the engagement between frigates Constellation and La Vengeance, 2 February 1800. Sent aloft in command of the topmen to secure Constellation’s unsupported mainmast, he refused to come down when warned that the mast might topple: “My post is here. I can't leave it until ordered.” When the mast crashed, Jarvis was swept over the side with the falling rigging.
     Honoring Jarvis’ bravery and devotion to duty, the Sixth Congress by Joint Resolution 29 March 1800 deemed his conduct "deserving of the highest praise" and his loss "a subject of national regret."

Guadalcanal campaign.
     The second Jarvis was laid down after Patterson at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington and commissioned 27 October 1937.
     Operating in the Pacific and Caribbean with Destroyer Squadron 4, Jarvis was moored next to Mugford at Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked 7 December 1941., Jarvis opened fire with 5-inch guns and machine guns and made preparations to get underway within minutes of the initial attack.



    

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