The ship was sunk by an enemy torpedo.
"Obama downplayed any suggestion that the recent controversies surrounding his campaign would torpedo his candidacy."
a small fast unarmored and lightly armed torpedo boat; P(ropeller) T(orpedo) boat.
The destroyer's armament consist of several small cannon, two torpedo tube and a number of anti-craft gun.
I would also like to point out the battle of Samar as an interesting case study of daylight destroyer torpedo attack disrupting cruiser and even battleship battle formations.
