The wreckage of a US warship from World War II known as “dancing mouse” has been found in the depths of the Indian Ocean.
According to CNN, the US and Australian officials announced the discovery of one of the bravest ever US Navy vessel wreckages on Monday, November 18, 2024.
The USS Edsall or dancing mouse sank off the Australian coast due to slippery movement in its final battle with the Imperial Japanese Navy on March 1, 1942, under the command of Lt. Joshua Nix.
US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, while announcing the find, said, “Joshua Nix and his crew fought valiantly, evading 1,400 shells from Japanese battleships and cruisers before being attacked by 26 carrier dive bombers, taking only one fatal hit.”
Australian Naval Chief Vice Adm. Mark Hammond, who spoke alongside Kennedy, praised Edsall's crew for fighting numerous battles to protect Australia in the early days of WWII and asserted that the wreck was found with the help of advanced hydrographic survey capabilities aboard the naval support ship MV Stoker.
Moreover, as per the website of the US Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), on the day of the final and fatal battle, a Japanese carrier-based plane spotted the Edsall around 200 miles south-southeast of Christmas Island.
Japanese Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo became “incensed” when he learned that the US destroyer was spotted within 16 miles of his forces and ordered an immediate attack.
The NHHC account by director Samuel Cox wrote that Edsall's captain did not give up, and “as a last gesture of defiance, like the famous cartoon of the little mouse flipping the bird at a huge screaming eagle, Lieutenant Nix chose to make a fight of it.”
The USS Edsall was built in 1920, and its 4-inch guns had no match for Japan's newer, bigger ships and bombers carrying massive 500-pound bombs.
