Herbert C. Jones

USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137) was named in his honor. The ship was launched January 19, 1943, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Ruth Jones, his widow; and commissioned on July 21, 1943, Lieutenant Commander Alfred W. Gardes, Jr. in command.

On December 7, 1941, the 23-year-old ensign was about to relieve the officer-of-the-deck on California when Japanese planes swooped in to attack. In the first wave, a torpedo and a bomb hit the ship. Jones dove into a smoke-filled hatchway and crawled along oil-slick decks to rescue a stricken sailor before being temporarily overcome by fumes. Reviving, he saw an antiaircraft battery without a leader and, staggering to his feet, took command. As a second wave of Japanese planes came in, the young officer fired his guns until all their ammunition was expended. Since the torpedo had put California's ammunition hoist out of action, Jones quickly organized a party of volunteers to go below and pass the ammunition up by hand. The vitally needed shells had just begun to reach the battery when a bomb hit the ship and mortally wounded him.

Herbert Charpiot Jones (January 21, 1918 – December 7, 1941) was an officer in the United States Navy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Herbert Jones was born on January 21, 1918, at Los Angeles, California and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve May 14, 1935. He was commissioned an ensign on November 14, 1940, and reported to the battleship USS California (BB-44) at Pearl Harbor two weeks later.