USS Paul Jones (DD-230/AG–120) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. It was the second ship named for John Paul Jones. Construction and commissioning Paul Jones was laid down 23 December 1919 and launched 30 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss Ethel Bagley; and commissioned 19 April 1921. Service history After shakedown, Paul Jones joined the Atlantic Fleet for maneuvers, training, and coastal operations until transferred to the Pacific in 1923. She crossed the Pacific and joined the Asiatic Fleet in protecting American interest in the troubled Far East. Paul Jones participated in the Yangtze River Patrol and was assigned other patrol duties along the China coast, while making occasional voyages to and from Manila. As flagship of Destroyer Squadron 29, Asiatic Fleet, she received the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor 8 December 1941, at Tarakan, Borneo, and immediately prepared for action. She got underway with , , , and for Makassar Strait and for the remainder of December acted as picket boat in the vicinity of Lombok Strait and Soerabaja Harbor, Java. Her first war orders were to contact Dutch Naval Units for instructions pertaining to the search for a submarine in the Java Sea, which was reported to have sunk the Dutch vessel Langkoems, contact her survivors on Bawean Island and check the waters for additional survivors. Paul Jones was unable to make contact with the submarine, but rescued Dutch crewmen. On 9 January 1942, after a Japanese submarine had sunk a second Dutch merchantman, Paul Jones saved 101 men from drifting life-boats. With , she salvaged the abandoned U.S. Army cargo vessel , 12 January, and towed it safely to Tulamben, Bali. She joined a raiding group consisting of three other destroyers: , , and Parrott, along with cruisers Marblehead and , hoping to intercept a large enemy convoy heading southward toward Balikpapan. Boise retired early from the group because of a grounding mishap and Marblehead developed a faulty turbine forcing her to reduce speed and remain behind the destroyers to act as cover for withdrawal. The destroyers engaged the Japanese convoy and its screening warships the night of 23/24 January. Despite overwhelming odds, they came out of the fracas with only minor damage to John D. Ford. The enemy suffered losses from the torpedo attacks launched by the destroyers as they raced back and