USS Sims (DD-409) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers in the United States Navy during World War II.

[2][1] After shakedown training in the Caribbean and post-shakedown availability in the Boston Navy Yard, Sims joined the Atlantic Squadron at Norfolk, Virginia on 2 August 1940.

Sims had been attached to Destroyer Squadron 2 (DesRon 2) since she began making Neutrality Patrols.

At 1114, a stick of four bombs fell approximately 1,500 yards astern, straddling the wake of the destroyer.

[1] Sims, with TF 17, sailed from Pearl Harbor on 16 February to attack Wake Island.

Canton is a small island on the Honolulu-New Caledonia air route, and it was thought to be endangered by the Japanese.

Sims remained near Rossel Island in the Louisiade Archipelago with a force of cruisers and destroyers to protect the carriers from enemy surface ships.

[1] On the morning of 7 May, a search plane from the Japanese striking force sighted the oiler and destroyer and reported them to Admiral Takagi as a carrier and a cruiser.

Two exploded in the engine room, and within minutes, the ship buckled amidships and began to sink, stern first.

As Sims slid beneath the waves, there was a tremendous explosion that raised what was left of the ship almost 15 feet (4.6 m) out of the water.