Researchers find second warship from WWII Battle of Midway

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

By Caleb Jones

MIDWAY ATOLL, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (AP) — A crew of deep-sea explorers and historians looking for lost World War II warships have found a second Japanese aircraft carrier that went down in the historic Battle of Midway.

Vulcan Inc.'s director of undersea operations Rob Kraft and Naval History and Heritage Command historian Frank Thompson reviewed high frequency sonar images of the warship Sunday and say that its dimensions and location mean it has to be the carrier Akagi.

The Akagi was found in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument resting in nearly 18,000 feet (5,490 meters) of water more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) northwest of Pearl Harbor.

The researchers used an autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, equipped with sonar to find the ship. The vehicle had been out overnight collecting data, and the image of a warship appeared in the first set of readings Sunday morning.


Rob Kraft, director of undersea operations at Vulcan Inc., reviews sonar scans of a warship from the World War II Battle of Midway that was found by his crew on the research vessel Petrel, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019, off Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)

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[hlthe2b]

1. Mixed feelings. Everytime they find another, more opportunity for these sea graves to be desecrated.

One can be philosophical about it, surely, but these men had and may still have family members living.

[Aristus]

4. Three miles down makes it pretty difficult for the weekend vandal to do much damage.

Desecrating the war grave of the wreck would likely be a million-dollar endeavor.

[Yonnie3]

2. I watched one of those Drain the Ocean shows yesterday.

The technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. It is truly amazing what can be seen.

My late uncles, who both served in the Pacific US Navy, would be very interested in this find and others I've read about. It was very personal to them.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. It's "very personal" to ALL of us Sailors.

Locating these ships brings a degree, however small, of closure to the lives of those who served. Then or now.

SEMPER FORTIS

[mn9driver]

3. 5500 meters is very deep.

Much deeper than the Titanic. Very few ROVs can operate at that depth, so sonar imaging is probably all we will see of this wreck. It is a war grave, so that is probably just as well.

[malthaussen]

5. Yorktown was located 20 years ago...

... kind of surprising it took this long to go after the Japanese wrecks. But very cool -- the visible damage to the flight deck corresponds to the after action reports of the pilots who bombed the ship. Pretty amazing imagery, considering the depths of the wreck.

-- Mal

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Wow, right on the heels of finding the IJN Kaga last week. . .

And next month, Roland Emmerich's movie Midway opens (November 8)

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