The USS Lexington has been found again. She was scuttled in 1942 after having been attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy.
The footage that has been released show the ship and at least some aircraft were preserved in remarkable condition.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-K-V_ah6IIs
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... ally-found
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Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
The photos and video are amazing.
https://www.paulallen.com/uss-lexington ... rv-petrel/
Paul Allen is my hero for doing this kind of stuff with his money. So much history that's being uncovered.
His team has found wrecks from several of the most significant battles of World War II, now adding the Battle of the Coral Sea to the list with having discovered the final resting place of the Lady Lex. I wonder if his team's technology is capable of searching at depths of around 25,000 feet? It'd be amazing if they could find any wrecks from the Battle off Samar. The wrecks of the Johnston, Hoel, Samuel B. Roberts, Gambier Bay, St. Lo, Choukai, Chikuma, and Suzuya are all down there in the Philippine Trench.
https://www.paulallen.com/uss-lexington ... rv-petrel/
Paul Allen is my hero for doing this kind of stuff with his money. So much history that's being uncovered.
His team has found wrecks from several of the most significant battles of World War II, now adding the Battle of the Coral Sea to the list with having discovered the final resting place of the Lady Lex. I wonder if his team's technology is capable of searching at depths of around 25,000 feet? It'd be amazing if they could find any wrecks from the Battle off Samar. The wrecks of the Johnston, Hoel, Samuel B. Roberts, Gambier Bay, St. Lo, Choukai, Chikuma, and Suzuya are all down there in the Philippine Trench.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
That is remarkable. Very interesting video.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
R/V Petrel has a Facebook page, it has a lot of pictures there of the aircraft that have been located.
7 x Douglas TBD-1 Devastators, 3 x Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and 1 x Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat have been found.
https://www.facebook.com/rvpetrel/
7 x Douglas TBD-1 Devastators, 3 x Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless and 1 x Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat have been found.
https://www.facebook.com/rvpetrel/
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Yeah, they've been putting out sets of pictures each of the last few days.
I'm amazed at the knowledge some folks have of this stuff, based on the comments.
I'm amazed at the knowledge some folks have of this stuff, based on the comments.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
They just posted 10 more photos of the aircraft they've found. https://www.facebook.com/rvpetrel/
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Paul Allens team is on a roll. Located USS Juneau on St Patricks Day. Juneau was sunk at Guadalcanal. Juneau is the ship the 5 Sullivan Brothers were aboard when they were killed.
Video here of the stern as the team picks out the name.
https://youtu.be/-TrPylyJRBg
Video here of the stern as the team picks out the name.
https://youtu.be/-TrPylyJRBg
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
They could spend a few days in that area and stumble across plenty more American and Japanese wrecks from the plethora of naval engagements around the time of the Guadalcanal campaign.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
cjg225 wrote:They could spend a few days in that area and stumble across plenty more American and Japanese wrecks from the plethora of naval engagements around the time of the Guadalcanal campaign.
True. It isn't called ironbottom sound for nothing.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
A lot of people in the comment sections of the Facebook posts are saying things like they hope the team goes to find X ship for no particular reason. Probably lots of Kantai Collection players, based on the cover images I see for a lot of their accounts.
One thing that would be nice is publicly-released images of some shipwrecks that are already known, so they don't have to go searching for them. Apparently, a few weeks ago, a Japanese firm located what they believe to be the wreckage of the IJN Hiei. Maybe strike a deal with Paul Allen to have the Petrel, already in the area, go over to take a look at what their SONAR found. The wreck of the IJN Kirishima, probably, was found years ago, but I don't recall that it was ever definitively identified other than by comparing images taken by Robert Ballard's crew with testimony of the crew of the USS Washington and the damage control officer of the Kirishima. There was apparently talk that it could've been the Hiei since the Hiei and her younger sister Kirishima were lost very close to each other.
One thing that would be nice is publicly-released images of some shipwrecks that are already known, so they don't have to go searching for them. Apparently, a few weeks ago, a Japanese firm located what they believe to be the wreckage of the IJN Hiei. Maybe strike a deal with Paul Allen to have the Petrel, already in the area, go over to take a look at what their SONAR found. The wreck of the IJN Kirishima, probably, was found years ago, but I don't recall that it was ever definitively identified other than by comparing images taken by Robert Ballard's crew with testimony of the crew of the USS Washington and the damage control officer of the Kirishima. There was apparently talk that it could've been the Hiei since the Hiei and her younger sister Kirishima were lost very close to each other.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
zanl188 wrote:
These guys are awesome. This voyage or series of voyages for them has been amazingly successful.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
cjg225 wrote:These guys are awesome. This voyage or series of voyages for them has been amazingly successful.
I don’t recall if it was mentioned up thread or not but Allen’s team found the C-2 that crashed as well. 14000 ft down as I recall.
They are on a roll.....
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
zanl188 wrote:
I don’t recall if it was mentioned up thread or not but Allen’s team found the C-2 that crashed as well. 14000 ft down as I recall.
They are on a roll.....
Yes, I believe that that is correct.
On Facebook, the RV Petrel account commented that they've mapped almost all of Ironbottom Sound and have a list of things they want to investigate visually.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
The R/V Petrel found the USS Hornet, CV-8, a couple weeks ago. Revealed on CBS yesterday.
https://youtu.be/IrmJn6Oudos
https://www.paulallen.com/the-hunt-for-the-uss-hornet/
https://youtu.be/IrmJn6Oudos
https://www.paulallen.com/the-hunt-for-the-uss-hornet/
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
R/V Petrel has also located USS Wasp...
https://youtu.be/7lG16kuE1HY
https://www.paulallen.com/uss-wasp/
https://youtu.be/7lG16kuE1HY
https://www.paulallen.com/uss-wasp/
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
It's incredible to watch those old timers recall the events of the battle and sinkings like they were yesterday. Thanks for sharing the links.
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- Francoflier
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Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
It's amazing how well those depths conserve the wrecks. The stainless steel in the cannon barrels is still shiny.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
It would be interesting if they found the Japanese carriers sunk in the Battle of Midway.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
LMP737 wrote:It would be interesting if they found the Japanese carriers sunk in the Battle of Midway.
Agreed. They've known where a small part of the IJN Kaga's wreck is for many years. I'd hope that the rest of her isn't terribly far away.
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- DigitalSea
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Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
So interesting how history can just be "lost" sometimes.
Jungle growth covering up ancient ruins.
Desert erosion covering up ancient temples.
The Ocean swallowing everything.
Jungle growth covering up ancient ruins.
Desert erosion covering up ancient temples.
The Ocean swallowing everything.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Sad to say that with Paul Allen's passing this work will cease unless by chance the new owners of the Octopus choose to continue these efforts. A real loss.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
And Akagi.
Great work by the team. Soryu should be relatively close, as she sank at almost the same time as Kaga did, but Hiryu might not be.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... in-pacific
Great work by the team. Soryu should be relatively close, as she sank at almost the same time as Kaga did, but Hiryu might not be.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... in-pacific
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
No video or pix from Akagi this cruise. ROV broke in a manner which cannot repaired on board.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Now they’ve located Japanese cruiser Chokai.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
zanl188 wrote:Now they’ve located Japanese cruiser Chokai.
Isn't she far away from Midway? The wrecks from the battle of Samar are worth searching as well, I guess.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Some of the wreck finds they’ve announced recently were actually located earlier this year.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
Now they’ve located a Fletcher class US destroyer. No positive ID but possibly Johnston.
Re: USS Lexington shipwreck found
BravoOne wrote:Sad to say that with Paul Allen's passing this work will cease unless by chance the new owners of the Octopus choose to continue these efforts. A real loss.
Hopefully it will continue. Maybe they'll operate at a lower tempo. They still do work for paying clients, so maybe they can extend their operations that way without draining as much of whatever Allen left behind specifically for Vulcan.
But, they've been on a roll this year. Major discovery after major discovery. This Fletcher-Class they discovered is the deepest shipwreck ever found. It has great scientific value even beyond its historical value to see what happens to man-made objects at this depth over time. Would be a shame if they couldn't continue, but even if they can't, they've already done a massive service to naval historians the last several years. Who would've thought we'd have found anything from the Battle off Samar at this point?
I follow the Petrel on Facebook, and they said they intend to go back next year for a more thorough survey of the area off Samar to try to positively ID the Fletcher[i]-Class wreck. They think it's [i]Johnston based on some characteristics of the debris. And I'm sure they'll go back to try to get footage of Akagi.
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