Wilbur E. Rhodes, a 25-year-old from Mercer, PA, perished while saving the lives of fellow sailors when their destroyer was torpedoed off southern New Jersey in February 1942. Rhodes’ actions rightfully merit consideration for a US military award for bravery. However, although VFW Post #6345 bears his name, Rhodes has never been nominated for any posthumous decoration. 

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer on 7 March 1942: “The former Mercer High School football star... virtually took command of the sinking vessel after its officers had perished, and directed the operations which saved 11 lives.” 

       EVENTS OF 28 FEBRUARY 1942

Wilbur Rhodes, known to friends as "Dusty," was a former firefighter and star athlete from western Pennsylvania who joined the Navy in 1939. Rhodes was a Shipfitter Third Class (E-4) aboard USS Jacob Jones (DD-130) when the destroyer set out to patrol the Jersey Shore in late February 1942. Shortly before 05:00 on 28 February, the "Jakie" was off Cape May, NJ when the German submarine U-578 hit her with a pair of torpedoes.

One torpedo detonated under the bridge and the other under the stern, killing ~115 of the 149 crewmen within seconds. Immediate fatalities included all but one officer and every chief petty officer. Although the entire bow was sheared off and much of the aft 40 feet had been blown away, the Jacob Jones would remain afloat for nearly an hour. 

Moments after the blasts, Dusty Rhodes ventured out on deck where others were beginning to converge. Most of the ~35 men left alive were relatively junior (E-2 through E-5). The only surviving officer, ENS Norman Smith, was so badly injured that he was incoherent. Confusion reigned, and they were without direction or orders. 

What remained of the Jacob Jones clearly could not remain afloat for long, and the water was fatally cold. Survival meant getting lifeboats in the water immediately. Grasping the gravity of the circumstances, Dusty Rhodes became the day's unexpected hero. As survivor testimony attests, he took command of the surviving crew and led a desperate effort to launch the lifeboats.

Bringing order to chaos was Rhodes’ first feat, but it was soon apparent that no lifeboats could be launched: one boat was jammed immovably on its skids, the deck was too slick with oil, and the launching hardware was damaged. Rhodes also realized there were not enough uninjured men for the task. Recognizing the lifeboat effort's futility, he ordered them to instead focus on the liferafts. Before abandoning the lifeboats, they cut one boat’s lines in the hope it would drift free when the Jacob Jones sank.

Working frantically under Dusty Rhodes’ direction, the sailors launched several rafts. These represented his second achievement. Rhodes then shifted his attention to getting his fellow sailors safely off the ship. One raft was held alongside the hull so men could board it, and Rhodes’ third accomplishment occurred when his party succeeded in lowering ENS Smith down onto this raft. Considering the ship's condition and the severity of Smith's injuries, this was a significant undertaking.

By the time sinking was imminent, Rhodes had gotten 12-15 men onto the raft alongside the hull. Rhodes could have joined them, but instead remained on deck assisting those still aboard. The crowded raft was finally pushed away from the ship as she slouched lower in the water. Three rafts were occupied by the time USS Jacob Jones sank; the crowded raft remained closest to the sinking destroyer. 

Dusty Rhodes and several others were still aboard when the destroyer slid went down by the bow. The last living memory of him was that of Adolph Storm, who saw him still assisting his shipmates as the deck tilted beneath them. Storm later recalled: “When I finally left the ship, I looked around and saw Rhodes on the deck, still telling the men what to do.” 

Seconds after USS Jacob Jones went under, her depth charges began detonating beneath the survivors. The explosions killed more than twenty men, including everyone in the crowded raft. Rhodes' exact fate is unknown. No surviving witness saw him, alive or dead, after the wreck submerged. 

All five occupants of the other two rafts survived because the rafts meant they were not immersed in the water at the full mercy of the exploding depth charges. Three others were spared because they were clinging to the crowded raft which, along with the bodies of its occupants, absorbed the brunt of the blasts. Those who survived the depth charges were sighted by an airplane and rescued later that morning.

Of the 149 men aboard USS Jacob Jones when she left NYC on 27 February, only 11 lived through the ordeal. There would have even been fewer survivors—possibly none at all—if not for a 3rd-class petty officer named Wilbur Rhodes. Without the rafts his effort launched, those who survived the depth charges would almost certainly have died by hypothermia before rescue arrived. Additionally, men afloat by only their lifejackets would have been harder for a passing aircraft to spot. Aiding in their rescue was an empty lifeboat sighted by the pilot—it had drifted free after the ship sank, just as the survivors had intended. Had the depth charges not exploded, Rhodes may have saved as many as three dozen lives. 

Rhodes' body was never recovered, nor were any other fatalities from that morning. News outlets reported his surviving shipmates' effusive praise. "He got order on the boat and stood by giving directions," Adolph Storm told reporters at Philadelphia Naval Hospital. “If ever a guy should be given a plug, it’s Dusty Rhodes."

        ADDITIONAL INFO

A more detailed write-up, to include sources, can be found here.

Rhodes heroism is portrayed in:

• Torpedo Junction (1989) by Homer Hickam, Ch. 6
• Killing Shore: The True Story of Hitler's U-boats Off the New Jersey Coast (2024) by K.A. Nelson, Ch. 8. 

        POINT OF CONTACT

The creator of this petition can be contacted at: www.KA-Nelson.com/contact