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Missing WW-II submarine located
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. Navy submarine that went missing in World War II has been located, U.S. Pacific Command announced Tuesday.
A Russian dive team located wreckage in about 213 feet of water between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Russian island Sakhalin in July
The Gato-class USS Wahoo went missing on Sept. 13, 1943, after it left the island of Midway for the Sea of Japan under radio silence. It was expected to emerge from the Sea of Japan in late October but was not heard from. While in the area, the Wahoo is said to have sunk at least four Japanese ships, according to the Navy.
The Japanese military reported that on Oct. 11, 1943, aircraft spotted the ship and launched a multi-hour sea and air attack to sink the Wahoo.
An international team led by a relative of the Wahoo's skipper, Cdr. Dudley W. Morton, has been searching for the wreckage for a year.
There will likely be a memorial ceremony for the crew at the Bowfin Museum in Hawaii in October 2007.
The U.S. Navy has no plans to salvage or enter the wreck, according to the Navy.
"Naval tradition has long held that the sea is a fitting final resting place for sailors lost at sea. The Sunken Military Craft Act protects military wrecks, such as Wahoo, from unauthorized disturbance," the Navy states in a story posted to its news site.
The submarine force largely escaped the destruction at Pearl Harbor during the December 1941 Japanese attack, and went on to be responsible for 54 percent of enemy ships sunk. Fifty-two U.S. submarines were lost in the war and 3,600 submarine crew members killed.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. Navy submarine that went missing in World War II has been located, U.S. Pacific Command announced Tuesday.
A Russian dive team located wreckage in about 213 feet of water between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and the Russian island Sakhalin in July
The Gato-class USS Wahoo went missing on Sept. 13, 1943, after it left the island of Midway for the Sea of Japan under radio silence. It was expected to emerge from the Sea of Japan in late October but was not heard from. While in the area, the Wahoo is said to have sunk at least four Japanese ships, according to the Navy.
The Japanese military reported that on Oct. 11, 1943, aircraft spotted the ship and launched a multi-hour sea and air attack to sink the Wahoo.
An international team led by a relative of the Wahoo's skipper, Cdr. Dudley W. Morton, has been searching for the wreckage for a year.
There will likely be a memorial ceremony for the crew at the Bowfin Museum in Hawaii in October 2007.
The U.S. Navy has no plans to salvage or enter the wreck, according to the Navy.
"Naval tradition has long held that the sea is a fitting final resting place for sailors lost at sea. The Sunken Military Craft Act protects military wrecks, such as Wahoo, from unauthorized disturbance," the Navy states in a story posted to its news site.
The submarine force largely escaped the destruction at Pearl Harbor during the December 1941 Japanese attack, and went on to be responsible for 54 percent of enemy ships sunk. Fifty-two U.S. submarines were lost in the war and 3,600 submarine crew members killed.
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