soc.history.war.world-war-ii

"Geoffrey Sinclair" wrote:
>
> "Rich" wrote:
>
> > And what sank her, if it can be determined, will be interesting to
> > know. About the only think I can think of was poor damage control/
> > communications that led to her suddenly capsizing or a fire that
> > eventually led to a magazine explosion?
>
> While it is unusual for the entire crew to be lost I note when HMS
> Neptune was lost, a half sister to Sydney, there was only one
> survivor. http://www.hmsneptune.com/history1.php

Major warship disappearances in WWII were not unheard of.

Destroyer USS Edsall (DD-219) disappeared in 1942, her fate was not
known until 1952 via review of Japanese records, and full details of her
crew and passenger's fates did not emerge until 1980's.

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Galaxy/3070/jjedsall.htm

http://www.usshouston.org/images/Edsall.PDF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Edsall_%28DD-219%29

"Edsall was sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea on 1 March 1942. Her
Japanese pursuers fired more than 1,000 rounds, but only two hit. At
18:24 she received a direct hit from the battleship Hiei and at 18:35
another from the cruiser Tone. Edsall was also attacked by nine Aichi
D3A1 Val dive bombers from Soryu and eight from Akagi, which hit her
with several bombs, leaving her dead in the water by 18:50. She was
destroyed by the cruiser Chikuma and sank at 19:00 on position 13°45?S,
106°45?E with 5-8 survivors, all of whom later died in POW camps."