When the USS Edsall sank, it took with it greater than 200 servicemen. It was World War II – March 1, 1942 – and the ship was sunk by the hands of the Japanese military. The Edsall was traveling across the Indian Ocean south of Java when it was sunk by dive bombers. 82 years later, the long-lost US warship was situated, completely by probability, due to the Royal Australian Navy. (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
The USS Edsall was commissioned during World War I, and was stationed in Asia from 1920 until its demise. It was about 300ft in length and was carrying 153 sailors and a number of other dozen army air forces pilots and soldiers when it was attacked. The ship had sustained damage from an earlier onslaught and deemed unfit for combat but was deployed to assist one other ship when it encountered Japanese naval forces. (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
Despite being damaged, the USS Edsall dodged attacks for over an hour, because it swerved to avoid the tons of of fired shells. The Edsall counterattacked with a smokescreen and torpedoes but was eventually overcome by Japanese dive bombers. One official account states that reports from Japanese ships say that the Edsall performed like a ‘Japanese dancing mouse,’ which was a preferred pet on the time. (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
Some historians imagine that a number of people on board survived the sinking but were immediately picked up by enemy forces and later beheaded in a jail camp. Mark Hammond, head of the Royal Australian Navy, said: ‘The USS Edsall served valiantly during World War II, most notably within the early Pacific campaigns. She operated alongside Australian warships protecting our shores, and played a task in sinking the Japanese submarine I124 off Darwin. The joint efforts in engagements similar to the Battle of the Coral Sea and the defense of allied territories within the Pacific forged bonds between US and Australian sailors that proceed to at the present time.’ (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
The then-unknown ship was situated in late 2023, and experts spent a couple of yr using sonar and underwater robots to explore the find. A team was able to verify that it was the USS Edsall and never the USS Pillsbury – which was a ship of the identical class known to have sunk nearby. The find was officially announced on Veterans Day 2024. It was situated largely intact, and is resting upright on the seabed roughly 200 miles east of Christmas Island, south of Java, Indonesia. (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy said on the time: ‘The Royal Australian Navy recently situated and helped discover the USS Edsall, a World-War II, Clemson-class destroyer that was sunk off the coast of Australia in March 1942. Captain Joshua Nix and his crew fought valiantly, evading 1,400 shells from Japanese battleships and cruisers before being attacked by 26 carrier dive bombers, taking just one fatal hit. There have been no survivors.’ (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
She added: ‘This is a component of our continuing efforts to honor those that made the last word sacrifice. We’ll now have the ability to preserve this vital memorial and hope that the families of the heroes who died there’ll know their family members rest in peace. We’ll tell their stories, learn from their bravery, and be inspired by their sacrifice. We’ll all the time remember them.’ (Picture: US Embassy Australia)
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