3 ms·

Explorers find WWII Navy destroyer, deepest wreck discovered

57 points by lando2319 4y ago

yieldcrv 4y ago
In the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Oahu, it took me a while to notice that all the graves were for people missing in action, and it really struck me when I noticed that the graves with marks on them were the people that were found... like, there were families and people that cared that did their own investigations and successfully, (or on the flip side just those people were the ones that somebodies cared enough to keep looking for and also found by happenstance or any wide variety of environments.) I was just casually walking around and got around to reading a placard and it was like "nobody here was found" "unless" and that really rocked my world! It's so many people! The curiosity now is would finding this ship add more marks to more graves? It seems much of this crew did get off the boat (how many?) but waited 3 days in the ocean for rescue and 89 survived. Is it too late to find either the ones on the boat or just their tags? Are these people already marked as "found"? Just not sure the nuances.
- mc32 4y ago
  In a marine environment, lost at sea or burial at sea, in both instances bodies go though a recycling process by the marine environment. So those lost overboard I don't think there would be much hope for, but those "entombed" in their vessels, if the ship were brought up, then yeah the Navy most likely would try to ID them. I think for civilian losses most often they are left undisturbed in their resting place.
Overtonwindow 4y ago
Completely related, I strongly encourage you to read this article about Victor Vescovo and how he did this. The man is a true explorer and has not earned nearly enough public attention or credit. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-thousand-feet-under-the-sea https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-tho...
- philshem 4y ago
  I read this article when it came out and indeed it’s worth reading. I’m glad to see the team’s hard work paying off.
jcranmer 4y ago
Minor nit: the USS Samuel B. Roberts wasn't a destroyer, it was a destroyer escort (which is an even smaller ship than a destroyer). And in the Battle off Samar, it joined the destroyers in charging the Japanese fleet, an action for which "suicidal" seems an understatement. And put out of action a heavy cruiser--it's not for nothing that she is sometimes called "the world's smallest battleship." If you want to learn about the Battle off Samar, you can watch Drachinifel's excellent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdcvDiA3lE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdcvDiA3lE, or you can read Hornfischer's "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Navy." It is an action that sees destroyers charging cruisers and battleships, carriers firing on opponents with their deck guns (and, apparently, some gunners were disappointed that they didn't get within antiaircraft gun range.), and an American fleet that is outnumbered, outgunned, outranged, outsped, and caught completely by surprise manage to win the engagement. A truly remarkable battle to learn about.
- tyingq 4y ago
  > the USS Samuel B. Roberts wasn't a destroyer, it was a destroyer escort (which is an even smaller ship than a destroyer) For a relative comparison to other US WWII ships, this one was a "GMT Class DE". https://i.imgur.com/gmMJzen.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gmMJzen.jpg It's the small one near the bottom of the second column.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  That was a very interesting video, thank you.
TheFreim 4y ago
I strongly encourage people to look into the methods used to locate wreckage under in the ocean, it's a fascinating problem that often uses cutting edge equipment and software to help. Autonomous underwater vehicles are used to map the sea floor, human analysis augmented by software lets you know where to narrow your search. Also, the human interaction in areas not far from the coast is interesting because local divers will often find wreckage and sell what they find from it which can be used to locate wreckage (or be misdirected when divers purposefully give incorrect information so their site isn't found, since they're usually breaking laws).
ilovecurl 4y ago
To get an idea of just how insane it was for the crew of Samuel B Roberts and the other destroyers who charged the IJN fleet, here's a visual comparison of USN/IJN forces involved in the Battle off Samar: https://i.imgur.com/KXprYpk.png https://i.imgur.com/KXprYpk.png
themadturk 4y ago
I wrote an independent study report on this action (as well as three others) in high school. The sources I had then (back in the mid-70s) didn't let me tell even half the story.

57 points by lando2319 4y ago

In the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Oahu, it took me a while to notice that all the graves were for people missing in action, and it really struck me when I noticed that the graves with marks on them were the people that were found... like, there were families and people that cared that did their own investigations and successfully, (or on the flip side just those people were the ones that somebodies cared enough to keep looking for and also found by happenstance or any wide variety of environments.) I was just casually walking around and got around to reading a placard and it was like "nobody here was found" "unless" and that really rocked my world! It's so many people! The curiosity now is would finding this ship add more marks to more graves? It seems much of this crew did get off the boat (how many?) but waited 3 days in the ocean for rescue and 89 survived. Is it too late to find either the ones on the boat or just their tags? Are these people already marked as "found"? Just not sure the nuances.

mc32 4y ago
In a marine environment, lost at sea or burial at sea, in both instances bodies go though a recycling process by the marine environment. So those lost overboard I don't think there would be much hope for, but those "entombed" in their vessels, if the ship were brought up, then yeah the Navy most likely would try to ID them. I think for civilian losses most often they are left undisturbed in their resting place.

Overtonwindow 4y ago

Completely related, I strongly encourage you to read this article about Victor Vescovo and how he did this. The man is a true explorer and has not earned nearly enough public attention or credit. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-thousand-feet-under-the-sea https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-tho...

philshem 4y ago
I read this article when it came out and indeed it’s worth reading. I’m glad to see the team’s hard work paying off.

jcranmer 4y ago

Minor nit: the USS Samuel B. Roberts wasn't a destroyer, it was a destroyer escort (which is an even smaller ship than a destroyer). And in the Battle off Samar, it joined the destroyers in charging the Japanese fleet, an action for which "suicidal" seems an understatement. And put out of action a heavy cruiser--it's not for nothing that she is sometimes called "the world's smallest battleship." If you want to learn about the Battle off Samar, you can watch Drachinifel's excellent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdcvDiA3lE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AdcvDiA3lE, or you can read Hornfischer's "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Navy." It is an action that sees destroyers charging cruisers and battleships, carriers firing on opponents with their deck guns (and, apparently, some gunners were disappointed that they didn't get within antiaircraft gun range.), and an American fleet that is outnumbered, outgunned, outranged, outsped, and caught completely by surprise manage to win the engagement. A truly remarkable battle to learn about.

tyingq 4y ago
> the USS Samuel B. Roberts wasn't a destroyer, it was a destroyer escort (which is an even smaller ship than a destroyer) For a relative comparison to other US WWII ships, this one was a "GMT Class DE". https://i.imgur.com/gmMJzen.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gmMJzen.jpg It's the small one near the bottom of the second column.
jacquesm 4y ago
That was a very interesting video, thank you.

TheFreim 4y ago

I strongly encourage people to look into the methods used to locate wreckage under in the ocean, it's a fascinating problem that often uses cutting edge equipment and software to help. Autonomous underwater vehicles are used to map the sea floor, human analysis augmented by software lets you know where to narrow your search. Also, the human interaction in areas not far from the coast is interesting because local divers will often find wreckage and sell what they find from it which can be used to locate wreckage (or be misdirected when divers purposefully give incorrect information so their site isn't found, since they're usually breaking laws).

ilovecurl 4y ago

To get an idea of just how insane it was for the crew of Samuel B Roberts and the other destroyers who charged the IJN fleet, here's a visual comparison of USN/IJN forces involved in the Battle off Samar: https://i.imgur.com/KXprYpk.png https://i.imgur.com/KXprYpk.png

themadturk 4y ago

I wrote an independent study report on this action (as well as three others) in high school. The sources I had then (back in the mid-70s) didn't let me tell even half the story.