The Company That Just Discovered USS Hornet Also Found 21 Other Ships

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The Company That Just Discovered USS Hornet Also Found 21 Other Ships | World War Wings Videos

R/V Petrel / Instagram

In early February 2019, late Paul Allen’s exploration and conservation company Vulcan Inc. has done amazing work around the world. From pioneering expeditions to protecting wildlife, this umbrella company accomplished things no other corporation has.

In Paul Allen’s words:

“As long as we work together – with both urgency and determination – there are no limits to what we can achieve.”

A big part of the company is operating R/V Petrel. This remote-controlled submarine has discovered many World War II wrecks to date, 21 to be exact. The team’s mission is “finding and documenting historic shipwrecks” but it’s the response of the families of those lost that humbles them most and drives them to find more ships.

Since 2012, these are the ships R/V Petrel found and documented (sorted by depth:)

IJN Yamagumo

Sunk: October 25, 1944  |  Found: November 27, 2017  |  Depth: 384 ft.

IJN Yamagumo was a destroyer built for the Japanese Imperial Navy. | Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Destroyers, edited by Kazushige Todaka / Public Domain

IJN Michishio

Sunk: October 25, 1944  |  Found: November 27, 2017  |  Depth: 581 ft.

Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Michishio. | Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Destroyers / Public Domain

IJN Asagumo

Sunk: October 25, 1944  |  Found: November 24, 2017  |  Depth: 600 ft.

Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Asagumo. |
Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Destroyers / Public Domain

IJN Fuso

Sunk: October 25, 1944  |  Found: November 25, 2017  |  Depth: 607 ft.

Fusō on her sea trials, 24 August 1915. | Kure Maritime Museum, (edited by Kazushige Todaka), Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Battleships and Battle / Public Domain

IJN Yamashiro

Sunk: October 25, 1944  |  Found: November 23, 2017  |  Depth: 627 ft.

Yamashiro and the aircraft carrier Kaga in Kobe Bay, October 1930. | Kure Maritime Museum, (edited by Kazushige Todaka), Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Battleships and Battle / Public Domain

USS Cooper

Sunk: December 3, 1944  |  Found: December 4, 2017  |  Depth: 656 ft.

USS Cooper, in New York before commissioning. | U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships / Public Domain

USS Ward

Sunk: December 1944  |  Found: December 3, 2017  |  Depth: 686 ft.

USS Ward (DD-139) using Razzle Dazzle camouflage. | U.S. Navy Photo / Public Domain

IJN Shimakaze

Sunk: November 11, 1944  |  Found: December 1, 2017  |  Depth: 715 ft.

Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyer Shimakaze. | Public Domain Photo

IJN Naganami

Sunk: November 11, 1944  |  Found: December 1, 2017  |  Depth: 827 ft.

Naganami was a Yugumo-class destroyer in the Japanese Imperial Navy. | Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Destroyers / Public Domain

IJN Wakatsuki

Sunk: November 11, 1944  |  Found: December 1, 2017  |  Depth: 869 ft.

Wakatsuki, Akizuki class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, under attack at Ormoc Bay, Leyte Island, Philippines. | U.S.Navy / Public Domain

HMAS AE1

Sunk: February 14, 1914  |  Found: April 4, 2018 |  Depth: 984 ft.

AE1 with other Australian vessels off Rabaul on 9 September 1914. | Photo Credit: Public Domain

IJN Hamanami

Sunk: November 11, 1944  |  Found: January 18, 2018 |  Depth: 1037 ft.

A picture of IJN Hamanami. | Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Destroyers / Public Domain

USS Helena

Sunk: July 6, 1943  |  Found: March 24, 2018 |  Depth:  2851 ft.

The U.S. Navy light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) anchored in President Roads, Boston, Massachusetts (USA), 15 June 1940. | USS Wasp Photographer / Public Domain

IJN Hiei

Sunk: November 14, 1942  |  Found: January 31, 2019 |  Depth:  3231 ft.

Hiei departing Yokosuka for Kure Naval Base, 23 March 1914. | Shizuo Fukui – Kure Maritime Museum, (edited by Kazushige Todaka), Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album: Battleships and Battle / Public Domain

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New R/V Petrel discovery! Battleship IJN HIEI . . The first IJN battleship to be sunk during WWII on November 14, 1942 has been found by R/V Petrel. HIEI was crippled by a shell from the USS San Francisco on the 13th which disabled the steering gear. For the next 24 hours it was attacked by multiple sorties of torpedo, dive and B-17 bombers. Hiei sank sometime in the evening with a loss of 188 of her crew. HIEI now lies upside down in 900 plus meters of water Northwest of Savo Island. . . Photo 1: 127 mm (5”) gun in the debris field. . Photo 2: Portholes in the hull. . Photo 3: Outer port propeller and shaft that has slid out all the way to the cutlass bearing. . Photo 4: Damage from the battle as well as degaussing wire and a porthole. . Photo 5: Found in the debris field about 500 meters away from the ship. Possible base for one of the rangefinders. . Photo 6: Expedition leader Robert Kraft reviewing sonar data of HIEI. . Photo 7: A crate of 25mm anti-aircraft on laying on the capsized hull. . Photo 8: View looking forward at both rudders over to starboard which matches the historical account. . Photo 9: Another 127 mm (5”) gun in the debris field. . . Follow us on Facebook for more images of IJN HIEI and other R/V Petrel projects. . . #rvpetrel #marine #ocean #picoftheday #searesearch #researchvessel #rov #auv #shipwreck #offshore #marinetechnology #autonomousvehicle #autonomous #robot #underwaterrobot #marineoperations #robotics #teampetrel #shiplife #paulallen #vulcan #solomonislands #ironbottomsound #savoisland #battleofsavoisland #ijnhiei #ijn #wwiihistory #wwii

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IJN Musashi

Sunk: October 24, 1944   |  Found: March 2, 2015|  Depth:  3280 ft.

Japanese battleship Musashi leaving Brunei in 1944 for the Battle of Leyte Gulf. | Tobei Shiraishi / Public Domain

USS Lexington

Sunk: May 8, 1942  |  Found: March 4, 2018|  Depth:  6637 ft.


Commercial tugboats assist the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) during her transit from the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts (USA), to the Boston Navy Yard for her final drydocking before her shakedown cruise. Lexington had been commissioned on 14 December 1927. | U.S. Navy Photo / Public Domain

HMS Hood

Sunk: May 24, 1941  |  Found: September, 2012 |  Depth:  9186 ft.

Partial restoration (spots removed, but no levels adjustment) of a 1924 photo by Allan C. Green of HMS Hood (pennant number 51), the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. For other versions, see below. | Allan C. Green / Public Domain

IT Artigliere

Sunk: October 13, 1940|  Found: March 2017 |  Depth:  12,139 ft.

Starboard side view of the Italian destroyer Artigliere, stopped, abandoned and on fire forward after the Battle of Cape Passero. | Australian Armed Forces / Public Domain

USS Juneau

Sunk: November 13, 1942   |  Found: March 17, 2018 |  Depth:  13,780 ft.

In New York Harbor, 11 February 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. | Public Domain

USS Indianapolis (CA-35)

Sunk: July 30, 1945 |  Found: August 19, 2017|  Depth:  17,060 ft.

The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) underway at sea on 27 September 1939. | U.S. Navy / Public Domain

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A photo of a 5 inch gun from the ROV exploration of the wreck of the USS Indianapolis at a depth of 5500m (18,000 ft) . . . The crew of the R/V Petrel found the wreck of the Portland Class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis on Aug. 19 2017 using a Hydroid Remus 6000 AUV equipped with an @edgetech_marine sidescan sonar. . Commissioned in November 1932, the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a 9,800-ton Portland Class heavy cruiser that operated in the Atlantic and Pacific during the peacetime years. During World War II, the Indianapolis served with honor from Pearl Harbor earning 10 battle stars and frequently operated as the flagship of the Fifth Fleet. . The loss of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a tragic moment following the completion of a secret mission, which contributed to the end of World War II. After a successful high-speed run delivering crucial components of the first operational atomic bomb, “Little Boy” from California to a naval base on the Pacific island of Tinian. The cruiser was en route from Guam to Leyte when she was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58 in the early hours of July 30, 1945. . The U.S. Navy cruiser tragically sank within an hour. Due to communications and other errors, her loss went unnoticed until a passing aircraft spotted survivors several days later. Approximately 800 of the ship’s 1,196 sailors and Marines survived the initial strikes and sinking, but after 4 to 5 harrowing days and nights drifting at sea, only 316 men survived. The Indianapolis remains to be the most tragic maritime disasters in U.S. naval history. . Read more at https://www.paulallen.com/uss-indianapolis-history-and-discovery-materials/#E7Ge5QS6dWSIh3WB.99 . . #rvpetrel #marine #ocean #picoftheday #oceaneducation #blueplanet #marineconservation #KnowYourOcean #searesearch #researchvessel #oceanscience #rov #auv #shipwreck #offshore #marinetechnology #autonomousvehicle #autonomous #robot #underwaterrobot #marineoperations #ship #ussindianapolis #worldwar2 #ww2 #usnavy

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USS Hornet (CV-8)

Sunk: October 27, 1942   |  Found: January 2019 |  Depth:  17,716 ft.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia (USA), on 27 October 1941. | U.S. Navy Photo / Public Domain

We’ve also included CBS This Morning’s coverage of R/V Petrel. You can see it in action below.

 

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