USS Edsall DD-219

Type:
Destroyer
Class:
Builder:
Cramp Shipbuilding
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Hull Number:
DD-219
Ordered:
December 19, 1917
Commissioned:
November 26, 1920
Keel Laid:
September 15, 1919
Decommissioned:
N/A
Launched:
July 29, 1920
Stricken:
N/A
   
Fate:
Sunk Mar. 1, 1942 in action with Japanese battleships Hiei and Kirishima,
cruisers Chikuma and Tone and aircraft from the carriers Hiryu, Soryu and Kaga.

Location: Java Sea, 240 miles South by East from Christmas Island.
(13.45S-106.45E)

152 men lost, no survivors. (5 men were picked up by Chikuma and later executed.)
(Roll of Honor)


Commanding Officers
From
To
Name
Nov. 26, 1920
June 14, 1921
Commander Arthur H. Rice, Jr., USN
June 14, 1921
Sept. 13, 1921
Commander Halsey Powell, USN
Sept. 13, 1921
Nov. 19, 1921
Lt. Commander Harry R. Bougush, USN
Nov. 19, 1921
May 1923
Lt. Commander William C. I. Stiles, USN
May 1923
Dec. 14, 1924
Lt. Commander Robert T. Young, USN
Dec. 14, 1924
Sept. 3, 1927
Lt. Commander Lemuel E. Lindsay, USN
Sept. 3, 1927
Oct. 23, 1927
Lieutenant Maxwell B. Saben, USN (Temp/Act)
Oct. 23, 1927
Aug. 13, 1928
Commander Jules James, USN
Aug. 13, 1928
June 20, 1930
Lt. Commander Thomas C. Singluff, USN
June 20, 1930
Apr. 19, 1932
Lt. Commander Byron S. Dague, USN
Apr. 19, 1932
Nov. 25, 1932
Lt. Commander Bruce P. Flood, USN
Nov. 25, 1932
July 12, 1933
Lt. Commander Walker Cochran, USN
July 12, 1933
Apr. 9, 1935
Lt. Commander Frederick D. Powers, USN
Apr. 9, 1935
May 15, 1935
Lieutenant Andrew M. Parks, USN (Temp/Act)
May 15, 1935
Mar. 10, 1937
Lt. Commander Charles A. Baker, USN
Mar. 10, 1937
Apr. 15, 1937
Lieutenant William S. Veeder, USN (Temp/Act)
Apr. 15, 1937
Feb. 21, 1938
Lt. Commander Charles A. Baker, USN
Feb. 21, 1938
May 9, 1939
Commander Frederick S. Conner, USN
May 9, 1939
May 24, 1940
Lt. Commander Abel C. J. Sabalot, USN
May 24, 1940
Oct. 13, 1941
Lt. Commander Edwin M. Crouch, USN
Oct. 13, 1941
Mar. 1, 1942
Lt. Commander Joshua J. Nix, USN


Combat Victories (none)
     


Awards
Combat Action Ribbon
Navy Expeditionary Medal (With 1 Bronze Star)
(Shanghai June - July 1925 & Smyrna Sept. 16 - Oct. 2, 1922)
China Service Medal
American Defense Service Medal
Yangtze Service Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 Battle Stars)
From
To
Engagement
Dec. 8, 1941
Mar. 1, 1942
Philippine Islands Operations
Jan. 20, 1942
Antisubmarine Operations
World War II Victory Medal
Philippine Defense Ribbon


Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
The first Edsall (DD-219) was launched 29 July 1920 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.; sponsored by Mrs. Bessie Edsall Bracey, sister of Seaman Edsall; and commissioned 26 November 1920, Commander A. H. Rice in command.

Edsall
sailed from Philadelphia 6 December 1920 for San Diego on shakedown. She arrived at San Diego 11 January 1921 and remained on the west coast until December, engaging in battle practice and gunnery drills with fleet units. Returning to Charleston, S.C., 28 December, Edsall was ordered to the Mediterranean and departed 26 May 1922.

Arriving at Constantinople 28 June, Edsall joined the U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters to protect American lives and interests. The Near East was in turmoil with civil strife in Russia and Greece at war with Turkey.

She did much for international relations by helping nations to alleviate postwar famine in eastern Europe, evacuating refugees, furnishing a center of communications for the Near East, and all the while standing by for emergencies. When the Turks set fire to Smyrna (Izmir), Edsall was one of the American destroyers who evacuated thousands of Greeks. On 14 September 1922 she took 607 refugees off Litchfield (DD-336) in Smyrna and transported them to Salonika, returning to Smyrna 16 September to act as flagship for the naval forces there. In October she carried refugees from Smyrna to Mytilene on Lesvosis. She made repeated visits to ports in Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Dalmatia, and Italy, yet managed to keep up gunnery and torpedo practice with her sisters until her return to Boston for overhaul 26 July 1924.

Edsall
sailed for the Asiatic Station 3 January 1925, joining in battle practice and maneuvers at Guantanamo Bay, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor before arriving Shanghai, 22 June. She was to become a fixture of the Asiatic Fleet on the China coast, in the Philippines and Japan. Her primary duty was protection of American interests in the Far East, expanding constantly since acquisition of the Philippines. She was faithful guardian through civil war in China, and the Sino-Japanese War. Battle practice, maneuvers and diplomacy took her most frequently to Shanghai, Chefoo, Hankow, Hong Kong, Nanking, Kobe, Bangkok, and Manila.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 Edsall readied for action with DesDiv 57 at the southeast Borneo oil port of Balikpapan. She raced to Singapore, embarked a British liaison officer and four men to search for survivors of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, sunk off Malaya the 10th. She intercepted a Japanese fishing trawler with four small boats in tow and escorted them into Singapore. She joined Houston (CA-30) at Surabaya to escort shipping retiring to the relative safety of Darwin, Australia. While so serving, she became the first U.S. destroyer to sink a full-sized enemy submarine in World War II. With three Australian corvettes, Edsall sent I-124 to the bottom on 20 January 1942 off Darwin.

Continuing to escort convoys in a race against time, Edsall was damaged when one of her own depth charges exploded prematurely during an antisubmarine attack 19 February 1942. She gamely continued to operate off Java, then on 26 February steamed from Tjilatjap to rendezvous with Langley (AV-3). The 27th, the seaplane tender and escorts Edsall and Whipple (DD-217) were attacked by nine large twin-engine bombers which damaged the historic Langley so badly she had to be abandoned. Edsall picked up 177 survivors, Whipple 308. On the 28th the two destroyers rendezvoused with Pecos (AO-6) off Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island. More Japanese bombers forced Edsall to leave before transferring all Langley men, but she completed the job on 1 March, then headed back to Tjilatjap. She never arrived. The gallant old four-piper fought a hopeless action against Japanese battleships Hiei and Kirishima, who sank her on the afternoon of 1 March 1942.

Edsall
received two battle stars for World War II service.



Page published Jan. 18, 2017