Manila, Philippines: In what is being hailed as the world’s deepest shipwreck ever located, an American exploration team said that a US Navy destroyer sunk during World War II has been found nearly 7,000 metres (23,000 feet) below the sea level off the Philippines. The ship, USS Samuel B Roberts, drowned during a battle off the central island of Samar on October 25, 1944, as the US forces fought to liberate the Philippines, then a US colony from Japanese occupation.
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Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end. pic.twitter.com/fvi6uB0xUQ
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022
Texas-based undersea technology company Caladan Oceanic said that a crewed submersible filmed, photographed, and surveyed the battered hull of the “Sammy B” during a series of dives over eight days this month.
Images showed the ship’s three-tube torpedo launcher and gun mount.
Some additional photos from the Sammy B. The bow, the fallen mast, the gap between fore and aft where she was hit by a battleship round, and the aft turret . . . where the brave and mortally wounded GM3 Paul H. Carr died trying to place a final round into the broken breech. pic.twitter.com/3VcZoZyPo3
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 25, 2022
Caladan Oceanic founder Victor Vescovo, who piloted the submersible tweeted, “Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end.”
On June 18, pilot Tim Macdonald (L) and sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet (R), onboard the submersible Limiting Factor, located a torpedo rack undeniably from the USS Samuel B Roberts (DE 413): “The Destroyer Escort that fought like a battleship” during the Battle off Samar, 1944. pic.twitter.com/crwGrSQ6ut
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 23, 2022
According to US Navy records, 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 the US and Japanese forces. Sammy B was one of four US ships sunk in the October 25 engagement.
With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the “destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.” pic.twitter.com/VjNVERdTxh
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022
The USS Johnston, which at nearly 6,500 metres was previously the world’s deepest shipwreck identified, was reached by Vescovo’s team in 2021. In the latest search, the team also looked for the USS Gambier Bay at more than 7,000 metres 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 may have gone down.
The wreck of the Titanic lies in about 4,000 metres of water.
(With agency inputs)
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