Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Destroyer DD-219

USS Edsall (DD-219)

Clemson-class destroyer

USS Edsall (DD-219)
Pier Studio, San Diego (donated 1969). — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 69331 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — DD-219 The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Edsall (DD-219) in San Diego Harbor, California (USA), during the early 1920s.

Service

  1. United States Navy as Edsall26 November 1920 — 1 March 1942912 days of the war
Full service history About 7,796 words
Clemson-class destroyer Particulars
Name
USS Edsall
Pennant / hull number
DD-219
Namesake
Norman Eckley Edsall of Kentucky
Builder
William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Laid down
15 September 1919
Launched
29 July 1920
Commissioned
26 November 1920
Fate
Sunk by Japanese surface warships ~200 mi SSE of Christmas Island, 1 March 1942 (1942)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
1,190 long tons (1,209 t)
Length
95.71 m (314 ft)
Beam
9.45 m (31 ft)
Draught
2.74 m (9 ft)
Speed
35 knots (64.8 km/h, 40.3 mph)
Complement
101
Main gun
102 mm (4 in)

Named for Norman Eckley Edsall, born on 3 June 1873 in Columbus, Ky., who enlisted in the Navy as a seaman on 27 June 1898. While serving on board Philadelphia (Cruiser No. 4) , on 1 April 1899, Seaman Edsall went ashore with a landing party under the command of Lt. Philip V. Lansdale to suppress hostile natives near Apia, Samoa. The thicket was so dense that when the order to withdraw was sounded it was impossible for the different units of the expedition to provide mutual support. Lt. Lansdale was wounded below the knee and unable to march. Edsall was mortally wounded while assisting Lt. Lansdale to cover. Having died from his wound, he was buried on Samoa.

The first Edsall (Destroyer No. 219) was laid down on 15 September 1919 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp & Sons; reclassified as DD-219 on 17 July 1920 as part of a Navy-wide standardization of alphanumeric identification numbers; launched on 29 July 1920; sponsored by Mrs. Bessie Edsall Bracey, sister of Seaman Edsall; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 26 November 1920, Cmdr. Arthur H. Rice Jr., in command.

Edsall cleared the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 6 December 1920 for her shakedown cruise en route to her duty station at San Diego, Calif. Having made stops at Newport, R.I. (7 December; New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y. (11-13 December); and Hampton Roads, Va. (14-16 December), the destroyer arrived at the Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard on 18 December. Underway four days later, on 22 December, she steamed to Havana, Cuba, where she arrived on 24 December. Having spent the Christmas holiday in port, she was underway again on the 27th. Touching at Key West, Fla., (27-28 December) in advance of reaching Cristóbal, Canal Zone (C.Z.), the anchorage at the Panama Canal’s Atlantic entrance, on New Year’s Eve.

Continue to the full service history About 7,796 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Edsall I (DD-219)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 26500 shp
  • geared turbines
  • 2 screws
Armament
  • 4 x 4 in guns
  • 1 x 3 in gun
  • 12 x 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes with MK 8-IIIB torpedoes
  • Depth charges
  • .30 cal & .50 cal machine guns
  • several BARs [Browning Automatic Rifle] .30 cal

Sister ships

59 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Edsall (DD-219) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Edsall I (DD-219) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: Pier Studio, San Diego (donated 1969). — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 69331 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons