The Last Stand of USS Edsall - Embarrassing The IJN’s Best
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2024
- Okay...not quite sure why the description vanished.
Anyway: USS Edsall was an interesting case. A ship that was old, even when she entered combat. A four-stacker destroyer, in an era of much more modern warships. She never stood a chance against the Japanese juggernaut.
And, yet, Edsall fought on. She would be caught by the Kido Butai itself...and proceed to embarrass it for two hours. Edsall dodged over 1000 shells and was only brought to a halt by aircraft.
Alas, none of her crew would live to tell this tale.
Edsall Video: • A Destroyer that stood...
Further Reading:
www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Blood...
www.amazon.com/Rising-Sun-Fal...
www.amazon.com/Fleet-Gods-For...
Stories of four-stackers like Edsall and Stewart holding the thin haze grey line against insurmountable odds never gets old.
While the Japanese were busy sinking the Edsall it gave the destroyer Whipple the opportunity to rescue almost 250 survivors from the Pecos.
Don't ever count tin can sailors out , damned brave men one and all .
Some of the bravest and craziest bastards to ever sail. Right next to submariners
Damn straight! And they used a slur Tim can sailors. Hah
Another 4 stacker sunk in glory.
The Asiatic Fleet faced impossible odds in 1942. Tough sailors facing the best of the IJN with only a squadron of Four Pipers, one light and one heavy cruiser. Edsall's story has always stuck with me. Same for the four destroyers that escaped the Battle of the Java Sea.
Seeing the crew picture and individual pictures of the men really hits home to show that these men were just like ordinary Americans and the sacrifices these men made to the last man. God bless and RIP!
This would make an inspiring movie.
Yea, but we all know what modern Hollywood would do. Half of it would be a love story, the other half would be making sure that it “represented modern audiences.” Perhaps waiting 50 years or someone like HBO could save it.
Every other crew"person" would have to be gay, trans, or a minority
My father served on the USS John D. Ford DD228. A sister ship to the USS Edsel.
Could we get a video on the destroyer IJN Amatsukaze. Commanded by the famous Tameichi Hara, she would see several notable actions throughout the war. She helped to sink the submarine USS Perch in March, and escorted carriers at the battle of the Eastern Solomon’s. At the battle of Guadalcanal. Amatsukaze’s torpedoes sank the destroyer Barton and crippled the light cruiser Juneau (later finished off by submarine attacks), and in turn she was crippled by 6-inch shell fire from the light cruiser Helena but survived.
Thanks for sharing that episode, Skynea. It's important to keep history alive. Cheers
I found myself at one point during this vid laughing like some bearded dude in an anime who just saw something so amusing, he can't help but cackle aloud. This little four stacker basically humiliated the Battle of Midway Strike force to such an extent that the crew of this unfortunate little gunfighter would be killed to a man before the war's end. I can't remember if there were any survivors of poor old Langley that made it to the end of the war, but it's always poignant to hear about a ship being lost with all hands. It may not have been as immediate as ships like Indefatigable and Queen Mary, but the end is the same, in the story of a fighting ship, and her crew, is extinguished. I had always heard that Chikuma's crew was notably gentle to their prisoners. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always believed that the crew of this unique heavy cruiser were rather kind, in that her crew offered the prisoners food, water, some clothes, and medical attention for those who required it.
What a wonderful account of such a plucky little tin can! I always love seeing stories about these little guys, as they never really get the attention they deserve as early war workhorses of the US Navy. Can't wait for the next one!!
Every shell and litre of fuel used by the Japanese hastened the end of Japanese military power. The crew of Edsall didn't know this, but they played their part sowing the seeds of victory.
What an absolutely heroic last stand. I sure hope that the captain received a well earned Medal of Honor for his mastery of his ship.
so many unnamed heroes..at least Lt. Nix deserved an award for his actions..what a story..tragic but inspiring..like Argonaut said below would make a great movie...
Don Kehn Jr.s book "A Blue Sea Of Blood" which is entirely about USS Edsall and her life and death, is well worth the read.
Never heard this amazing story before.
Thank you for this video. When I was growing up most books focused on larger ships; the little ships got only a sentence at best, a mere mention was most common.
Great story about a Brave little ship and her Courageous crew. Thanks for this.
The same as the RAN sloop, HMAS YARRA versus four heavy cruisers and at least three destroyers.
The story of EDSALL was not ignored. for years the U.S. Navy had no idea what had happened to her and her crew.
There was an Omaha class light cruiser, USS Marblehead, in the area, possibly another factor in the misidentification.
Damaged Marblehead was already gone by this time limping her way home. The Japanese, however, kept misidentifying 4 pipe destroyers still in the theater until the last survivor final pull outs.
Thanks for the clarification. I didn't check the timing on USS Marblehead's departure. When seen from miles away and not knowing Marblehead had departed, it was an easy mistake for Japanese sailors to make. And safer, as misidentifying 6"-gunned Marblehead for a 4"-gunned Clemson class destroyer could go unpleasantly. The Omahas were weird and obsolescent, but their 6" guns were fairly potent (much more so than the less numerous 4"/50s of a four-piper destroyer).
the Samuel Roberts may have been called the destroyer that fought like a battleship....but this old destroyer fought an entire fleet by itself.
9:28 The book "Clear for Action" by Foster Hailey and Milton Lancelot attribute this picture to being that of the USS Pope being blown out of the water (page 194).
That was a last stand by a tin can
This ship was the inspiration for the Destroyermen series of novels
Apparently Edsall's AA capabilities were one 3"/23 AA gun and various .30 and .50 caliber machine guns. Basically nothing of consequence unless an IJN pilot got really unlucky.
Thank you for this episode. (You know what I mean)
❤ Thank You
Why didn't the US navy name a destroyer after her commanding officer? This is exactly the sort of heroism that calls for a destroyer name
Unbelievable bravery from the crew of a old destroyer. Extreamely bad shooting from the Japanese.
Sad that the crew all perished at the hands of murderous POW guards or the perils of the sea.
WASD hacker
How can there be a hit and no damage?
Hit with no damage could be a glancing blow. Ship was turning and shot bounces off because it did not hit squarely
The Japanese guns were batting .001
first!!!
The greatest destroyer last stand in history. Eat your boilers out Johnston, Glowworm, Hatsuzuki, Lupo, etc: none of them can say they managed to stand against an entire fleet carrier strike force. Only Edsall can claim that honor.
was found???😮