A witness to a bitter Pacific war battle has been found on the ocean floor. An American destroyer has been found off the coast of Australia, announced the American Embassy in Australia on the occasion of Veterans’ Day, celebrated in the United States on November 11.

Nearly all of the 185 sailors and 31 air force pilots on board before her sinking perished on March 1, 1942, when the ship was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy, according to a U.S. Army statement. “We will now be able to preserve this important memorial and hope that the families of the heroes who died there will know that their loved ones rest in peace.”said the American ambassador to Australia.

At the time, American naval power had been knocked out by Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor three months earlier, on December 7, 1941, extending the war raging in Europe to the whole of the Pacific. Rushed into the conflict, the United States initially suffered a series of defeats in the Pacific islands, taken by surprise by the speed and determination of the Japanese attacks.

Launched in 1920, theUSS EdsallThe USS Edsall, a destroyer with a displacement of 1,000 tons and a length of 96 meters, was off the coast of Australia in early March, near Christmas Island, just south of the Indonesian island of Java. It has already distinguished itself in combat, notably by sinking a Japanese submarine.

Dive bombers

But on March 1, he was surprised by two Japanese battleships, which bombarded him massively with over 1,300 shells. At first, he deftly dodged. The destroyer accelerated to almost 50 km/h, stopped abruptly and changed course abruptly to avoid enemy fire. It also cleverly deploys a smoke screen to escape the observation of Japanese ships, making its maneuvers unpredictable. It was only hit twice.

In the end, Japanese bombers were sent to sink the American ship. From three Japanese aircraft carriers, 26 of these aircraft, which had the advantage of being perfectly aimed at their target, took off and swooped down on the destroyer with 250 kg bombs. The American ship was mortally wounded only once, which was enough to roll her onto her side before sinking and disappearing at a depth of around 5,000 meters.

L’USS Edsall was found by the Australian Navy, thanks to the “development of robotic and autonomous underwater technologies”. which have made it possible to excavate “the immensity of the Indian Ocean”.said the US military. Such a discovery “was not possible just a few years ago”..

Last spring, it was the wreck of the mythical submarine USS Harder which was found north of the Philippines. Sent to the bottom on August 24, 1944, she had the reputation of being the submersible that sank the most Japanese ships during the Pacific War. It was discovered at a depth of over 900 meters, “relatively” intact, except for depth charge damage to the rear of its kiosk.