The U.S. warship USS Samuel B. Roberts sank in the Philippines at the Battle of the Gulf of Leyten in October 1944. Now it has been found.
Texas The USS Samuel B. Roberts, a U.S. Navy destroyer that sank in World War II, has been found in a nearly seven-kilometer depth near the Philippines, according to AFP.
In June, the research team dived into a wreck at a depth of 6,895 meters for eight days. Never before has a shipwreck been found in such a deep sea.
“This little ship fought against the best of the Japanese Navy to the end,” founds Caladan Oceanic’s research team Victor Vescovo tells AFP.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts sank in the Philippines near the island of Samar on October 25, 1944, when the United States attempted to recapture the Philippines from Japan, which had conquered them in May 1942. The Philippines was then a U.S. colony.
The ship was involved in a battle between the U.S. and Japanese navies in the Gulf of Leyten that lasted for days. Four U.S. ships sank in the battle. Two of these have now been found.
The United States fleet archives by with a sinking of 1,745 tonnes, the USS Samuel B. Roberts made his first trip from Texas to Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean in May 1944. At Bermuda, the crew practiced towing and using weapons, among other things, for more than a month before returning to the United States.
At the end of June, the ship sailed from Boston to Norfolk, Virginia. Immediately on the evening of the day of departure, the ship hit something and the whole ship vibrated with the force of the hit. In the vicinity of the ship, blood was observed in an area about 30 meters in diameter with a “large fish” floating in the middle.
USS Samuel B. Roberts photographed in June 1944 near Boston.
According to the archives, the ship had apparently hit a whale. The ship’s starboard propeller twisted, but it managed to travel at a slower pace of about 15 knots to its destination. There were still “pieces of fish” caught in the hull of the ship. An investigation by the Navy found that the ship’s captain was not malfunctioning.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts set sail for Hawaii and Pearl Harbor in late July 1944. After months of training, on October 6, the ship was informed that the United States was planning to recapture the Philippines. Six days later, the ship and its crew set out on their first mission to the Philippines.
October 25 The Japanese Navy surprised the USS Samuel B. Roberts at sea east of Samar Island, where it was guarding an attack by U.S. forces. Before seven in the morning, a U.S. plane spotted a fleet approaching and announced the ship’s captain Robert Copelandille. Just 18 minutes later, the Japanese navy began firing towards the ship.
Copeland told its crew that their ship’s chances of survival are slim. The Japanese tried to besiege the U.S. ships in a three-part attack, but failed because the rain made it difficult to track the ships.
Counterattacks by U.S. ships on torpedoes failed. The USS Samuel B. Roberts fired nearly all of the ammunition on board the ship against Japanese ships. The Japanese Kongō battleship hit the USS Samuel B. Roberts several times with its explosive fire.
Hits as a result, the ship’s communications were severed, some of the crew burned to death, and some died after being hit by shards. One of the ship’s engine rooms was destroyed. A crippled U.S. fighter tried to escape the scene, but the Japanese navy continued firing.
An unknown ship rescues the fighter’s crew from the sea on October 26, 1944.
At 9.10 a.m. Copeland ordered the ship to be abandoned. An hour later, the ship sank stern ahead toward the depths. The crew, submerged in the water, floated in the ocean for nearly a day before rescuers were allowed to search here and there for long-floating survivors who were now fighting seawater, oil spilled from the ship and sharks.
The survivors had clung to the ship’s three life rafts. The ship had a crew of 224 people, 89 of whom died in the Battle of Leytenlahti.
#Philippines #World #War #ship #depth #kilometers #Philippines #ship #destroyed #Japanese #navy #October
