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
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
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
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
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
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
