The USS Jarvis (DD-393) was a Bagley-class destroyer constructed by the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. Laid down on August 21, 1935, and launched on May 6, 1937, she was commissioned on October 27, 1937. As a Bagley-class vessel, she featured the design characteristics typical of her class, optimized for fleet screening, anti-aircraft, and anti-submarine warfare. Initially operating along the California coast and in the Caribbean, Jarvis shifted her focus to the Pacific theater by 1940. She arrived at Pearl Harbor in April 1940 and participated in fleet exercises and patrols. During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she was moored at berth B6, where she engaged Japanese aircraft with her 5-inch guns and machine guns, claiming four enemy planes destroyed. Despite superficial damage and no crew losses, she immediately sortie to conduct surveillance and anti-submarine patrols. Throughout early 1942, USS Jarvis was active in convoy escort missions and rescue operations, notably rescuing 182 survivors from the torpedoed fleet oiler Neches. She participated in the Guadalcanal campaign, arriving in the Solomon Islands in July 1942. During the initial invasion of Guadalcanal in August 1942, she provided screening and patrol support for landings. On August 8, 1942, while maneuvering near Savo Island, Jarvis was torpedoed by Japanese aircraft, which ignited fires and caused a 50-foot gash in her hull. She was knocked out of action, with 14 crew members killed. Despite efforts to reach safety, she was unaware of orders to proceed to Efate for repairs and instead headed toward Sydney, Australia. Mistakenly believing she was escaping to safety, she continued her voyage near Savo Island. Japanese forces, misidentaking her for a cruiser, quickly located and attacked her with bombers and torpedoes. She was ultimately sunk around 1300 hours on August 9, 1942, approximately 40 miles off Guadalcanal, with all 233 crew members lost. USS Jarvis was awarded three battle stars for her service in World War II, marking her as a vessel of significant contribution and tragic loss in the early Pacific campaign.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.