A US navy destroyer sunk during World War II has been found nearly 7km below sea level off the Philippines, making it the deepest shipwreck ever located, a US exploration team said.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts went down during a battle off the central island of Samar on Oct. 25, 1944, as US forces fought to liberate the Philippines — then a US colony — from Japanese occupation.
A crewed submersible filmed, photographed and surveyed the battered hull of the “Sammy B” during a series of dives over eight days this month, Texas-based undersea technology company Caladan Oceanic said.
Photo: AFP / handout / Caladan Oceanic and EYOS expeditions
Images showed the ship’s three-tube torpedo launcher and gun mount.
“Resting at 6,895m, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed,” Caladan Oceanic founder Victor Vescovo wrote on Twitter.
“This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end,” said Vescovo, who piloted the submersible.
US Navy records show that Sammy B’s crew “floated for nearly three days awaiting rescue, with many survivors perishing from wounds and shark attacks.” Of the 224 crew, 89 died.
The battle was part of the larger Battle of Leyte, which saw intense fighting over several days between US and Japanese forces.
Sammy B was one of four US ships sunk in the Oct. 25 engagement. The USS Johnston, which at nearly 6.5km was previously the world’s deepest shipwreck identified, was reached by Vescovo’s team last year.
In the latest search, the team also looked for the USS Gambier Bay at more than 7km below sea level, but was unable to locate it. It did not search for the USS Hoel due to the lack of reliable data showing where it might have gone down.
The wreck of the Titanic lies at a depth of about 4km.
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