October 17, 1941: The 1st U.S. Casualties of World War II

The USS Kearny

October 17, 1941: For the 1st time, American troops died in World War II. And America wasn't even in the war yet.

The USS Kearny was a Greaves-class destroyer, launched in 1940, and named for Commodore Lawrence Kearny, an early American naval officer. He served as Mayor of his hometown of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and another city in that State was named for him.

The Kearny was docked at Reykjavik, Iceland, when it was sent to assist a British convoy that had been attacked by a "wolfpack" of German U-boats (submarines). The Kearny dropped depth charges, and the Nazis returned fire, hitting the Kearny with a torpedo, killing 11 American sailors and injuring 22 others.

Though damaged, the Kearny was able to reach port, and was ready to go again on December 25 (Christmas Day), able to head back to Boston for permanent repairs.

This was hardly the 1st time American and Nazi vessels had fired on each other. Still, Congress would not grant President Franklin D. Roosevelt a Declaration of War. But Adolf Hitler would specifically cite the Kearny incident in his declaration of war on America on December 11, 1941. That declaration was a mistake he would regret.

The Kearny continued to be used as a convoy escort through the end of World War II. It was decommissioned in 1946, held in reserve in Orange, Texas, and scrapped in 1972.

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October 17, 1941 was a Friday. The baseball season ended 11 days earlier, when the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the World Series. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't start for another 14 days. There were 3 games in college football:

* Duquesne University beat St. Vincent's of Pennsylvania, 7-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The University of Miami beat Rollins College of the Orlando area, 21-0 at Burdine Stadium in Miami. The stadium would be renamed the Orange Bowl in 1959.

* And San Jose State and Hardin-Simmons played to a tie, 7-7 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose. The stadium would be renamed CEFCU Stadium in 2015.