Yes Sir ;
I was taught that , as a naval Damage Control Petty Officer . The thing about this book though is it is Dry , Angering , Sad , Confusing and downright Irritating . This is not a story of heros fighting impossible odds .It is a story of a small much ignored type of ship expected to do way more than she was in a condition to do .
Tha idea that in Cavite , the yards were warned NOT to use chipping hammers of a pnuematic nature on the rusting hulls , tells it's own story . These crews were definitely considered Expendable by the powers that be in the Far East and in Washington ! That Bodies found many years later tells more of the sad end of a truly forgotten but Gallant crew .
You've heard of the massive Japanese Fleet units . How about this , Hiryu , Akagi , Soryu , Kaga , Hiei , Tone , Chikuma and some Destroyers . This is what the Edsall ran into . She tried many things to outrun the planes and surface gunfire in what was called a targeting exercise by the Japanese .
Thus she succumbed for being there full of her crew and some Army pilots and Aircraft crews she had rescued from the Langley . They were trying to get to safety . They never made it and went into the whispers of History . And the Japanese first thought they had a " Marblehead " class cruiser coming up on their rear . Gee ! It was the Edsall .
The idea of the callousness of the Far East Command and Washington and Japan , can be found at fault here . They were even at one time accompanied by the Asheville . She was one of the Gunboats from the Yangtze Squadron - ( made famous by the book Sand Pebbles .)
It is a dry book , in the dimension of readable facts concerning ship losses and bungles by those in charge . I still recommend it for the hope that folks will really understand what little we had to fight with at the beginning and the attitudes of those on both sides concerning survivors ! . Tanker - Builder