USS Edsall ( DD - 219 ) USS " Edsall " ( DD - 219 ) , named for Seaman Norman Eckley Edsall ( 1873 – 1899 ) , was a " Clemson " - class destroyer of the United States Navy . " Edsall " was laid down by the William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company on 15 September 1919 , launched on 29 July 1920 by Mrs . Bessie Edsall Bracey , sister of Seaman Edsall and commissioned on 26 November 1920 , Commander A . H . Rice in command . Service history . " Edsall " sailed from Philadelphia 6 December 1920 for San Diego , California 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 , South Carolina , 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 , transporting American commercial operatives , evacuating refugees , furnishing a center of communications for the Near East , and standing by for emergencies . When the Turks expelled the Anatolian Greeks from Smyrna ( Izmir ) , " Edsall " was one of the American destroyers which evacuated thousands . On 14 September 1922 , she took 607 refugees [ DD - 219 ' s Log states 664 persons were evacuated ] off 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 Lesbos Island . She made repeated visits to ports in Turkey , Bulgaria , Russia , Greece , Egypt , Mandate Palestine , Syria , Tunisia , Dalmatia , and Italy , and kept up gunnery and torpedo practice with her sisters until her return to Boston , Massachusetts for overhaul 26 July 1924 . " Edsall " sailed for the Asiatic Fleet 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 . She served during the civil war in China , and the early part of the Sino - Japanese War . Battle practice , maneuvers and diplomacy took her most frequently to Shanghai , Chefoo , Hankow , Hong Kong , Nanking , Kobe , Bangkok , and Manila . In late OCT 1927 , for example , DD - 219 visited the Siamese capital at Bangkok , and had three of the Royal Princesses aboard for tea . In return ' Edsall ' s ' skipper ( CDR Jules James , USNA 1908 ) was given an engraved silver cigarette case by the Royal Family . World War II . When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 , " Edsall " was stationed with DesDiv 57 at the southeast Borneo oil port of Balikpapan . En route to Batavia ( Djakarta ) on 8 December [ in the Far East ] 1941 when word of the war was received , DesDiv 57 altered course to Singapore to act as ASW screen for Force Z . She embarked a British liaison officer and four men at Singapore from HMS " Mauritius " and was sent to search for survivors of HMS " Prince of Wales " and HMS " Repulse " , sunk off Malaya on the 10th . She intercepted a Japanese fishing trawler , the " Kofuku Maru " ( later renamed MV " Krait " and used in Australian Special Ops ) with four small boats in tow and escorted them into Singapore before turning them over to HMAS " Goulburn " . She and her division mates then joined the heavy cruiser USS " Houston " and other US units at Surabaya on 15 December 1941 . Many would escort shipping retiring to the relative safety of Darwin , Australia . During the first week of 1942 " Edsall " escorted the so - called Pensacola Convoy from Torres Strait back to Darwin . Later , after fueling operations in the Lesser Sunda Islands , while conducting the oiler USS " Trinity " to Darwin , she became the first U . S . destroyer to participate in the sinking of a full - sized enemy submarine in World War II . With three Australian corvettes ( HMAS " Deloraine " , HMAS " Lithgow " , and HMAS " Katoomba " ) , " Edsall " helped sink the Japanese submarine " I - 124 " on 20 January 1942 , off Darwin . Contrary to rumor , this sunken submarine was never entered , nor were classified documents ever recovered from it . Continuing to escort convoys in northern Australian waters , " Edsall " was damaged when one of her own depth charges exploded prematurely during an anti - submarine attack on 23 January 1942 in the shallow ( 8 fathom ) Howard Channel . On 3 February " Edsall " and other American units of ABDA moved up to Tjilatjap , Java in order to be closer to the combat theater and also to fuel stocks . She continued in her service as a patrol vessel off southern Java . On 23 Feb she and the old gunboat USS " Asheville " operated off Tjilatjap as ASW patrols . On 26 February she steamed from Tjilatjap with her sister ship USS " Whipple " to rendezvous with the converted seaplane tender USS " Langley " which was bringing in P - 40E fighters and crews for the defense of Java . On the 27th , the seaplane tender , along with " Edsall " and " Whipple " came under attack by sixteen ( 16 ) Mitsubishi G4M " Betty " bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service ' s " Takao Kokutai " , led by Lieutenant Jiro Adachi , flying out of Den Pasar airfield on Bali , and escorted by fifteen ( 15 ) A6M " reisen " fighters . The attack damaged " Langley " so severely that she had to be abandoned . " Edsall " picked up 177 survivors ; " Whipple " , 308 . On the 28th the two destroyers rendezvoused with the fuel ship USS " Pecos " off Flying Fish Cove , Christmas Island some 250 miles southwest of Tjilatjap . More Japanese bombers forced " Edsall " and the other ships to head for open sea . They headed directly south into the Indian Ocean for the rest of the 28th in high winds and heavy seas ; in the early pre - dawn hours of 1 March all " Langley " crew were transferred to " Pecos " . This was completed between 0430 ( USN / local time ) and 0815 on 1 March . " Whipple " then set off for the Cocos I . as protection for the tanker Belita sent to meet her there ; " Pecos " , carrying about 700 survivors from " Langley " , " Stewart " and " Houston " , plus assorted stragglers , was ordered to Australia . " Edsall " had retained 32 USAAF personnel from " Langley " to be used to assemble and fly 27 P - 40E fighters shipped to Tjilatjap aboard the transport Sea Witch . " Edsall " was instructed to return these " fighter crews " to the port . Following orders , at 0830 she reversed course , headed back to the NE for Java , and was never seen again by Allied forces . Last engagement of " Edsall " . " Pecos " was detected later that morning by air patrols from the carriers of VADM Nagumo Chuichi ' s " Kido Butai " ( or " KdB " ) and came under heavy air attack . For some time she sent out distress calls to any Allied ships in the area , as it was assumed the ship would probably be lost . " Whipple " , less than 100 miles distant , copied some of these calls , but was too far away to return quickly . USS " Mount Vernon " , a troopship many hundreds of miles away in the Indian Ocean also read some of the signals . At approximately 1548 hours " Pecos " sank after being attacked for several hours by four waves of IJN dive - bombers from Nagumo ' s " KdB " . At 1550 hours ( USN / local time ) a single " light cruiser " was spotted about 16 miles behind the Japanese task force : this mistakenly identified ship was in fact the " Edsall " . At this time the old destroyer was perhaps no more than 25 – 35 miles from the last reported position of " Pecos " and likely attempting to get to her stricken comrades . At about 1603 hours she was first spotted by the Japanese heavy cruiser " Chikuma " and within another five minutes the cruiser opened fire with her 8 " guns . Fifteen minutes later the battleships of " VADM Mikawa Gunichi ' s " Sentai 3 / 1 opened fire with their main battery of 14 " guns at extremely long range ( 27 , 000m / 29 , 500 yds . ) All shots missed as the old destroyer fled , conducting evasive maneuvers that ranged from flank speed – about 26 knots for the hobbled ship – to full stop , with radical turns and intermittent smoke - screens . " Edsall " also disrupts the Japanese with counter - attacks , firing her torpedoes – which narrowly miss " Chikuma " – and with 4 " gunfire , even though outranged . " Edsall " manages to get off a signal saying she had been surprised by two enemy battleships ; this is copied by the Dutch merchant ship " Siantar " over 100 miles away . The Japanese surface vessels ( 2 cruisers , 2 battleships ) fired 1 , 335 shells at " Edsall " that afternoon with no more than one or two hits . These failed to stop the gritty old destroyer . " Seething with rage , " VADM Nagumo ordered airstrikes : a total of 26 Type 99 divebombers ( " kanbuku " ) in three groups ( " chutai " ) took off from the carriers " Kaga " ( 8 ) , " Hiryu " ( 9 ) , and " Soryu " ( 9 ) . These divebombers were led by LTs Ogawa , Kobayashi , and Koite respectively . Their 250 kg ( 551 lb ) bombs at last bring " Edsall " to a halt . At 1722 the Japanese ships resume firing on the now - immobile destroyer . A Japanese camera - man , probably on the cruiser " Tone " , films about 90 seconds of her destruction . ( A single frame from this film is culled for use as a propaganda photo later , misidentified as " " the British destroyer HMS Pope " " . ) Finally , at 1731 hrs ( 1901 IJN / Tokyo time ) " Edsall " rolls onto her side , " showing her red bottom " according to an officer aboard the Japanese battleship " Hiei " , and disappears into the abyss of the Indian Ocean in clouds of steam and smoke . Subsequent Japanese navy reports refer to this incident as " a fiasco " . The Fate of DD - 219 ' s Survivors . Japanese Imperial Navy officers aboard the cruiser " Chikuma " many years later report that a number of men have survived the sinking of " Edsall " — They are found in the water on liferafts , cutters , clinging to debris , etc . However , due to a submarine alert , the nervous Japanese only stop long enough to rescue a handful ( the Japanese word is " jakkan " ) before they steam off , leaving the others to perish in the Indian Ocean . On board " Chikuma " the survivors are treated well , clothed & fed , and interrogated by their captors , giving the name of their ship as " the old destroyer E - do - soo - ru " . After a few days the details of these interrogations are shared with the other ships of VADM Nagumo ' s " Kido Butai " during their return journey . There is some suggestion that the cruiser " Tone " may have picked up a survivor or two as well , but there is no confirming evidence of this . The Americans are held on " Chikuma " for the next ten days before returning to the Japanese force ' s advance base on 11 March 1942 . On 21 Sept . 1946 several mass graves are opened in a remote locale in the East Indies , over 1 , 000 miles from the point of " Edsall " ' s disappearance . In two graves , containing 34 decapitated bodies , are the remains of six " Edsall " crewmen and what are thought to be five more USAAF personnel from " Langley " , along with numerous Javanese , Chinese , and Dutch merchant sailors from the Dutch merchant - ship " Modjokerto " , sunk the same day as " Edsall " in the same area south of Christmas Island . These American bodies are reinterred in U . S . cemeteries between Dec . 1949 and March 1950 . War crimes trials conducted in 1946 - 1948 concerning other murders that occurred in or near Kendari by IJN personnel contain fragmentary information about the killings of " Edsall " survivors but are not recognized as such by Allied investigators , and are not pursued . For the next six decades no U . S . press reports or post - war historical texts " ever " cover the story of the final days and fate of these men . Awards . " Edsall " received two battle star s for her World War II service .