Sonar and robot find wreckage of war submarine that has been missing for 79 years

A statement released last week (16) by the US Navy put an end to one of the greatest mysteries in maritime history: the whereabouts of the USS Albacore submarine, which disappeared at sea with all its crew on November 7, 1944. The remains of the vehicle were found thanks to images obtained as a result of research conducted by Tamaki Ura, a professor at the University of Tokyo.

The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) has confirmed that the images are of the missing ship.

Ura led a team that began the search on May 25 last year, with records provided by the Japan Center for Asian History Archives (JACAR) of the sinking of an American submarine in 1944.

That same day, just seven kilometers from the city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido, researchers’ sonar detected what appeared to be a 50-metre-long submarine hull at a depth of 250 meters on the seafloor. The next day, prepared for strong currents and limited visibility, an underwater robot was able to photograph the wreck with images of the bridge and periscope.

One of the most effective submarines of WWII

Naval History and Heritage Command has confirmed the identity of a wreck site of the USS Albacore (SS 218) off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan. pic.twitter.com/eYZZ7MxKug

— US Naval History (@USNHistory) February 16, 2023

Entering service on June 1, 1942, the USS Albacore (SS-218) was built by the Electric Boat Company and was used in World War II. The typical model was equipped with three deck guns, two of which were anti-aircraft, in addition to ten torpedo tubes, six in the bow and four in the stern.

Operating in the so-called Pacific Theater of Operations, the submarine earned four Presidential Unit Citations, as well as nine battle stars for service to the nation. Albacore sank 13 enemy ships: two destroyers, the light cruiser Tenryu, and the aircraft carrier Taiho, the pride of the 31,000-ton Japanese fleet.

To validate the images obtained by Ura and his team, the NHHC Division of Underwater Archeology (UAB) relied on documented changes, including the presence of an anti-aircraft radar dish and mast, vents, at Albacore prior to its final patrol. and lack of stock plates on the upper edge of the sail. The probable cause of the sinking of the American submarine was a sea mine.