Researchers have discovered the sunken destroyer USS Stewart (DD-224), which was nicknamed the “Ghost Ship” during World War II. It was built more than 100 years ago in the United States. After many years of searching, the wreckage of the ship was found at a depth of 1,065 meters in the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of northern California. To search for the ship, the autonomous underwater drones Ocean Infinity, equipped with multi-beam sonars, were used. Thanks to them, the researchers were able to study 127 square kilometers of the seabed in less than 24 hours and succeed in the search.
The USS Stewart was called the “Ghost Ship” during World War II. Photo source: iflscience.com
The sunken USS Stewart
The Stewart was built in Pennsylvania in September 1919 and was commissioned a year later. Incidentally, it was the second US ship to be named after Admiral Charles Stewart. The destroyer did not manage to take part in World War I, but it was actively involved in battles with the Japanese fleet during World War II.
In 1941, on the eve of the United States' entry into the war, the USS Stewart was sent to Borneo as part of the Asiatic Fleet. The fleet's mission was to counter the advance of the Imperial Japanese Army.
The USS Stewart was commissioned in 1920. Photo source: wikipedia.org
Stewart served as an escort vessel and, along with other US ships, participated in naval battles at the beginning of the Pacific War. In the winter of 1942, during the Battle of Badung Strait, the destroyer was seriously damaged by an attack by Japanese ships.
Why did the ship fight on the side of the US and Japan
Despite the damage, the ship managed to reach the port of Surabaya on the island of Java. However, they did not have time to repair the ship, as the port was attacked by the Japanese. The crew was forced to abandon the ship, and it was decided to sink the vessel itself. To do this, its own team planted explosives in its hull and detonated them, as a result of which the ship went to the bottom. However, the story of the destroyer did not end there.
At some point, after the Americans left Java, the ship was spotted by pilots far behind the front line. Also, reports of the ship began to come in from other witnesses, including the US Navy. Therefore, the USS Stewart began to be called the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific Ocean”.
USS Stewart at the time of sinking in 1946. Photo source: iflscience.com
The mystery of the ship was solved only after the end of the war, when the vessel was found afloat in the Japanese port city of Kure, not far from the infamous Hiroshima. As it turned out, a year after the sinking of the destroyer, when the island was already under Japanese control, the military decided to raise it and restore it. As a result, until the end of the war, the USS Stewart served in the Imperial Japanese Navy as a patrol boat.
As a result, the ship continued to be used for some time in the US Navy under the designation DD-224. However, the sailors themselves called the ship “RAMP-224”, which was a combination of the ship’s naval hull number and a slang term for returning prisoners of war.
By that time, the ship was already in poor condition, which is not surprising given its rich history. Therefore, a year later, it was decided to use it as a target during target practice. In May 1946, the ship was attacked by aircraft and ships, as a result of which it sank for the second time. But the exact location of the ship was unknown until the very last moment.
The ship was found in 24 hours thanks to a scan of the seabed. Photo source: iflscience.com
The ship was found 80 years after it sank
According to Russ Matthews, president of the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, which participated in the search for the ship, the entire history of the destroyer is well documented. However, it ends at the moment when the ship was sunk. Therefore, researchers were interested in where exactly it is and what it looks like today.
Russ Matthews spent years searching for the sunken vessel, but to no avail. That changed when he partnered with Ocean Infinity. After getting the approximate coordinates of where the vessel was last seen, the idea came up to send underwater drones to scan the bottom.
According to researchers, the destroyer is in excellent condition. Photo source: livescience.com
The team then conducted an additional high-resolution sonar survey and a visual inspection of the ship using a drone equipped with a camera. As a result, the experts were able to examine the ship in detail and get acquainted with its condition.
According to The New York Times, the destroyer is in excellent condition. It may even be the best-preserved example of a US Navy quadruple-deck destroyer. Thus, the USS Stewart represents a unique opportunity to study an example of the design of such ships from the early twentieth century.
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Finally, we note that this is not the first sunken ship that Ocean Infinity has discovered. Earlier, we reported that the company discovered the Endurance ship, which sank 100 years ago, in the waters of Antarctica. This is also the legendary ship that delivered Captain Ernest Shackleton and his crew to Antarctica in 1915.