The usEdsall is pictured in San Diego Harbor, Calif., Twenties. The ship was misplaced throughout World Struggle II however was situated by Australia’s navy final 12 months.
U.S. Naval Historical past and Heritage Command
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U.S. Naval Historical past and Heritage Command
The usEdsall, an American warship identified for its crew’s brave final stand in opposition to Japanese forces throughout World Struggle II, has been discovered.
The U.S. Navy introduced the invention on Monday. The 314-foot destroyer was discovered by an Australian survey ship final 12 months, deep in waters south of Australia’s Christmas Island. But it surely wasn’t positively recognized because the Edsall till final week.
The ship was shocked by Japanese battleships on March 1, 1942, within the Indian Ocean. It was outgunned and already reeling from harm sustained weeks earlier, and had been deemed not match for fight obligation. There have been 185 U.S. Navy personnel and 31 U.S. Military Air Power pilots aboard on the time, the Navy mentioned.
The crew “lost in a valiant battle against the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early days of World War II. The commanding officer of Edsall lived up to the U.S. Navy tenet, ‘Don’t give up the ship,’ even when faced with overwhelming odds,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti mentioned in a press release.
First launched in 1920, the Edsall performed a job in sinking Japan’s I-124 submarine, which turned one of many first Japanese subs misplaced in World Struggle II. On March 1, 1942, the Edsall was doubtless responding to a misery name of one other American ship when Japanese forces noticed it about 225 miles south-southeast of Christmas Island. It “fought a hopeless action against an overwhelming force” of two Japanese battleships and two heavy cruisers, the Naval Historical past and Heritage Command says.
Japanese forces fired greater than 1,300 shells on the Edsall. The Edsall’s commanding officer, Lt. Joshua J. Nix, fired again, however he confronted superior firepower.
The Edsall produced a wall of smoke to cover its place and engaged in evasive maneuvers, ceaselessly altering its velocity and route. “According to a Japanese observer, Edsall performed like a ‘Japanese dancing mouse’ (a popular domesticated pet in Japan, also known as ‘waltzing mice’ or ‘whirler’ for its manic and bizarre movements). If it were not for the unpredictable speed and course changes, the Japanese would have put Edsall under a lot sooner,” writes Samuel J. Cox, director of the Naval Historical past and Heritage Command, in a historical past.
A picture from a Japanese propaganda movie reveals the Edsall simply earlier than its sinking.
U.S. Navy
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U.S. Navy
Then the Japanese commander, Vice Adm. Chūichi Nagumo — who had led the assault on Pearl Harbor a couple of months earlier — launched dive bombers to pound the Edsall. Nix positioned the Edsall with its bow dealing with the Japanese ships, in what is taken into account a logo of defiance. An hour and a half after being noticed, the Edsall was “dead in the water,” Cox writes. It capsized and sank quickly after.
A handful of survivors had been taken aboard by Japanese forces, whereas others had been left within the water to die. However those that had been taken prisoner fared no higher: Not one of the Edsall’s crew or passengers survived the battle, based on the Navy’s historical past. Mass graves later present in Indonesia confirmed prisoners had been decapitated.
The ship was discovered final 12 months by the Australian navy
The Royal Australian Navy’s MV Stoker situated the Edsall late final summer time throughout a hydrographic survey, an NHHC spokesperson mentioned. The wreck is sitting at a depth of greater than 18,000 ft. The Australian navy notified the NHHC in Could of this 12 months, however the company’s specialists first needed to decide it was not one other American ship, the usPillsbury, that had been sunk a day later in a battle with Japanese forces.
Nonetheless, the “damage evident on the wreck site” and its location is extra per the Edsall, a spokesperson mentioned, and the U.S. Navy decided on Nov. 6 that “the preponderance of evidence leads to the identification of the wreck as the remains of Edsall.”
Chief of Naval Operations Franchetti known as the wreck a “hallowed site” for the roughly 200 folks who died there. The invention was additionally introduced by Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Australia, who mentioned in a press release: “We will now be able to preserve this important memorial and hope that the families of the heroes who died there will know their loved ones rest in peace. We will tell their stories, learn from their bravery, and be inspired by their sacrifice. We will always remember them.”
“Because there were no living U.S. witnesses to Edsall‘s last fight, there are no Medals of Honor, Navy Crosses or Presidential Unit Citations for what was one of the most gallant and valorous actions in the history of the U.S. Navy,” Cox wrote. “Nevertheless, we have a duty to remember their courage in the face of overwhelming odds.”
