on 30 October in controversial circumstances. Sinking of USS Reuben James On 31 October 1941, USS Reuben James was one of five destroyers escorting convoy HX-156, close to the coast of Iceland, about west of the island. Reuben James had just begun turning to investigate a strong direction-finder bearing when a torpedo launched from U-552 struck her port side and caused an explosion in her forward magazine. The entire bow section of the destroyer was blown off as far back as the fourth funnel and sank immediately. The stern remained afloat for around five minutes before sinking; unsecured depth charges compounded the damage, exploding as they sank and killing survivors in the water. Of her 160-man crew, 115 were killed, including all the officers. The destroyer was the first US Navy warship to be sunk in World War II. The incident provoked a furious outburst in the United States, especially when Germany refused to apologize, instead countering that the destroyer was operating in what Germany considered to be a war zone and had suffered the consequences. The sinking of the Reuben James did not lead the US to declare war on Germany; it did, however, provide a pretext to officially transfer the US Coast Guard from its peacetime role as an arm of the US Treasury Department to a wartime function as part of the US Navy. Congress also amended the Neutrality Act to permit the arming of US-registered merchant ships and authorized them to enter European waters for the first time since 1939. Second Happy Time In 1942, again commanded by Erich Topp (who later became an admiral in the postwar Bundesmarine), U-552 participated in the "Second Happy Time" (Operation Drumbeat or Paukenschlag), during which German submarines had great success against unescorted American merchantmen sailing alone along the eastern seaboard of the US. U-552 was particularly successful during this period, sinking 13 ships and damaging another in just three patrols in the first six months of 1942. Two further patrols under Topp during the summer netted four more ships. However, in an attack against Convoy ON-155 on 3 August 1942, the boat was nearly sunk when she was caught on the surface by the Canadian corvette . The corvette machine-gunned the submarine and hit the conning tower with a four-inch shell, causing severe damage and forcing Topp to return to base for repairs. U-552 was badly damaged by heavy