The bow section of the U.S. warship USS New Orleans, which was blown off by a Japanese torpedo in 1942, has been located near the island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific Ocean.
Although the ship survived the attack, more than 180 of the crew onboard the heavy cruiser were killed when one of the ship's magazines of ammunition was hit by a torpedo and detonated, tearing off the entire front of the vessel.
According to a statement, the ship's bow section was discovered during seafloor mapping operations at Iron Bottom Sound, near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, at a depth of 2,214 feet (675 meters).
"By all rights, this ship should have sunk," the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, retired Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, said in the statement. "But due to the heroic damage control efforts of her crew, USS New Orleans became one of the most grievously damaged U.S. cruisers in WWII to actually survive."
The New Orleans was hit during the Battle of Tassafaronga near Guadalcanal on the night of Nov. 30, 1942, when U.S. warships attempted to intercept Japanese destroyers delivering supplies to the island.
The naval battle took place several months after the successful landing of U.S. marines and soldiers at Guadalcanal — a major Japanese military base which was eventually captured in February 1943.
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War wreckage
The bow wreckage was found by the University of New Hampshire's uncrewed surface vessel (USV) DriX, which was mapping the seafloor with sonar equipment, using reflected sound pulses to estimate distances.
The USV was being controlled by researchers aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, which is owned and operated by a U.S. nonprofit called the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET). The expedition was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
One of the search leaders, OET chief scientist Daniel Wagner, said in the statement that a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was sent to explore the wreckage after its discovery by DriX; and that hundreds of experts around the world had worked to make a positive identification.
After the explosion tore off its bow, the New Orleans began flooding; but the vessel was kept afloat by crew members who stayed at their posts, although some lost their lives and three Navy Crosses were awarded posthumously.
The ship was temporarily repaired with a coconut log in a nearby harbor until it was able to sail back slowly to the United States for permanent repairs.
"To find the bow of this ship is an opportunity to remember the sacrifice of this valiant crew, even on one of the worst nights in U.S. Navy history," Cox said.
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