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 crewmembers 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 Edsalls 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 crews family members--Upon a Blue Sea of Blood offers a painstaking reconstruction of the ships history. The book investigates not only the Edsalls 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 U.S. Navy and then by the Japanese wartime propaganda machine. And finally, military historian Donald Kehn considers the circumstances surrounding the curious obscurity of the Edsalls heroic service and final battle in American histories. Redressing six decades of official indifference, Kehns account recovers a significant chapter missing from the history of World War II--and tells a long-overdue story of courage and tragic loss.

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9780760333532

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Reviews

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.

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.

Library Journal, February 2009<br> 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 materiel, 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.

Author Information

Donald M. Kehn Jr. is a military historian and researcher. He attended South Texas Junior College (now the University of HoustonDowntown) and the University of TexasAustin. 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 has contributed to works by James D. Hornfischer (Ship of Ghosts), Vincent P. OHara (The U.S. Navy Against the Axis), Mark Felton (The Fujita Plan), and William H. Bartsch (Every Day a Nightmareforthcoming). A Blue Sea of Blood is Kehns first book. Kehn lives and works in Houston, Texas, where he was born and raised.

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