A Blue Sea of Blood: Deciphering the Mysterious Fate of the USS Edsall

by Donald M. Kehn Jr.

Overview

On the morning of March 1, 1942, the WWI-era destroyer USS Edsall—under orders to deliver some forty Army Air Force fighter crews to the beleaguered island of Java—split off from the USS Whipple and the tanker Pecos and was never seen again by Allied forces. Despite the later discovery of bodies identified as Edsall crew members near a remote airfield on the coast of Celebes, what happened to the ship remains a matter of mystery and, perhaps, deliberate obfuscation.

This book explores the many puzzling facets of the Edsall’s disappearance in order to finally tell the full story of the fate of the vessel and her crew. Based on exhaustive research of the historical record—including newly deciphered Japanese documents and previously unrevealed material from the crew’s family members—A Blue Sea of Blood offers a painstaking reconstruction of the ship’s history. The book investigates not only the Edsall’s mysterious final action, but also her wide-ranging pre-war career and the curious uses to which her story was put—generally under false pretenses—first by the pre-war US Navy and then by the Japanese wartime propaganda machine. And finally, military historian Donald Kehn considers the circumstances surrounding the curious obscurity of the Edsall’s heroic service and final battle in American histories. Redressing six decades of official indifference, Kehn’s account recovers a significant chapter missing from the history of World War II—and tells a long-overdue story of courage and tragic loss.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616732387
Publisher:	Quarto Publishing Group USA
Publication date:	12/20/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	306
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Donald M. Kehn Jr. is a military historian and researcher. He attended South Texas Junior College (now the University of Houston–Downtown) and the University of Texas–Austin. He is currently the official historian for the USS Houston (CA-30) Survivors Association and the official historian of the Naval Order of the United States, Texas Commandery. Kehn lives and works in Houston, Texas, where he was born and raised.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Library Journal, February 2009
“The World War II disappearance of the U.S. Navy destroyer Edsall under, until now, mysterious circumstances would make a good read in and of itself; but in recounting the vessel’s far-ranging, prewar career, military historian Kehn creates a fascinating tale of atrocity, murder, unpreparedness, and, ultimately, deliberate cover-up. Launched at Philadelphia on July 29, 1920, and commissioned that November, the Edsall trained in the Pacific Ocean before being ordered to the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. naval detachment in Turkish waters in 1922. There she was a witness to the mass murder of Greeks by the Turks at Smyrna. Subsequent service in the Far East, as a charter member of the U.S. Asiatic fleet, put the ship in harm’s way following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Lack of Allied preparedness and planning led to needless loss of men and matériel, and such was the case with this destroyer—lost in an uneven battle on March 1, 1942. Kehn’s persistence in uncovering the facts surrounding her disappearance and the murder of her surviving crew makes this a compelling read. Recommended for all public libraries.”

CombinedFleet.com“…as much the proverbial "page-turner" as any novel in some of the settings, events, and mysterious "who-done-it" suspense…Kehn's detective work takes the reader from the swells of the Indian Ocean south of Java through the bureucracies of the U.S. Navy Department to the jungles and political turmoils of the Netherlands East Indies. It is a drama that takes hold of you and there is something of interest for all students of history."

WWII History Magazine“In A Blue Sea of Blood, his first book, author Kehn does a masterful detective job in delving into long-sealed Japanese records, previously unknown material from crewmembers’ families, and U.S. Dutch, and Japanese documents to reveal, as completely as possible, what happened to the Edsall and her crew…In this detailed, comprehensive look at a doomed ship and her dutiful crew, Kehn examines how the Edsall was used by both sides in their propaganda efforts and how her heroic services and final battle were relegated to obscurity in naval histories… “With the publication of the riveting A Blue Sea of Blood, it is unlikely that the Edsall and her crew will be forgotten any time soon.”

Editorial Reviews

The World War II disappearance of the U.S. Navy destroyer Edsall under, until now, mysterious circumstances would make a good read in and of itself; but in recounting the vessel's far-ranging, prewar career, military historian Kehn creates a fascinating tale of atrocity, murder, unpreparedness, and, ultimately, deliberate cover-up. Launched at Philadelphia on July 29, 1920, and commissioned that November, the Edsall trained in the Pacific Ocean before being ordered to the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. naval detachment in Turkish waters in 1922. There she was a witness to the mass murder of Greeks by the Turks at Smyrna. Subsequent service in the Far East, as a charter member of the U.S. Asiatic fleet, put the ship in harm's way following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Lack of Allied preparedness and planning led to needless loss of men and matériel, and such was the case with this destroyer-lost in an uneven battle on March 1, 1942. Kehn's persistence in uncovering the facts surrounding her disappearance and the murder of her surviving crew makes this a compelling read. Recommended for all public libraries.
—David Lee Poremba

Library Journal

Library Journal, February 2009
“The World War II disappearance of the U.S. Navy destroyer Edsall under, until now, mysterious circumstances would make a good read in and of itself; but in recounting the vessel’s far-ranging, prewar career, military historian Kehn creates a fascinating tale of atrocity, murder, unpreparedness, and, ultimately, deliberate cover-up. Launched at Philadelphia on July 29, 1920, and commissioned that November, the Edsall trained in the Pacific Ocean before being ordered to the Mediterranean as part of the U.S. naval detachment in Turkish waters in 1922. There she was a witness to the mass murder of Greeks by the Turks at Smyrna. Subsequent service in the Far East, as a charter member of the U.S. Asiatic fleet, put the ship in harm’s way following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Lack of Allied preparedness and planning led to needless loss of men and matériel, and such was the case with this destroyer—lost in an uneven battle on March 1, 1942. Kehn’s persistence in uncovering the facts surrounding her disappearance and the murder of her surviving crew makes this a compelling read. Recommended for all public libraries.”

CombinedFleet.com “…as much the proverbial "page-turner" as any novel in some of the settings, events, and mysterious "who-done-it" suspense…Kehn's detective work takes the reader from the swells of the Indian Ocean south of Java through the bureucracies of the U.S. Navy Department to the jungles and political turmoils of the Netherlands East Indies. It is a drama that takes hold of you and there is something of interest for all students of history."

WWII History Magazine “In A Blue Sea of Blood, his first book, author Kehn does a masterful detective job in delving into long-sealed Japanese records, previously unknown material from crewmembers’ families, and U.S. Dutch, and Japanese documents to reveal, as completely as possible, what happened to the Edsall and her crew…In this detailed, comprehensive look at a doomed ship and her dutiful crew, Kehn examines how the Edsall was used by both sides in their propaganda efforts and how her heroic services and final battle were relegated to obscurity in naval histories… “With the publication of the riveting A Blue Sea of Blood, it is unlikely that the Edsall and her crew will be forgotten any time soon.

From the Publisher