The Wreck of the USS-Harder (SS-257)-- Part 2: Locating the Wreck

The submarines found targets.  In a battle with the Japanese escort ship CD-22 on the morning of August 24, 1944, the Harder fired three torpedoes at the ship.  All three missed.  Then the CD-22 started tracking the Harder and launched four depth charge attacks before sinking the Harder on the fifth try (according to Japanese records).

The location of the Harder's wreck was confirmed by the Lost 52 Project, an effort led by Tim Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea, to find the 52 U.S. subs lost at sea in World War II.

The group had previously located at least six of those subs.

The U.S. Navy's History and Heritage Command (NHHC) reports:  "We are grateful that the Lost 52 has given us the opportunity to once again honor the crew of the 'Hit 'em Harder' submarine.  (That was the vessel's motto.)

The wreck is "the final resting place of Sailors that gave their life in the defense of the nation and should be respected by all parties as a war grave."

--GreGen

The Wreck of the USS Harder (SS-257)-- Part 1

From May 23, 2024 CNN "USS Harder: Wreck of famed US Navy World War II sub found off Philippines" by Brad Lendon.

The wreck of one of the most storied US Navy submarines has been found in the South China Sea eight decades after its last patrol according to the Navy's History and Heritage Command.

It lies under 3,000 feet of water off the northern Philippine island of Luzon, sitting upright and intact except for damage behind its conning tower from a Japanese depth charge.

The Harder was lost in battle August 24, 1944, along with its crew of 79 while on its sixth war patrol as the US sought to retake the Philippines.  The Harder had sunk two Japanese escort vessels off the Bataan Peninsula on August 22, 1944, and then headed north along the Luzon coast with two other submarines in search of more targets.

--GreGen

U-853-- Part 9: The Wreck

On 6 and 7 May 1945, Navy divers attempted to enter the wreck to recover the captain's safe and the papers within it, but failed.  Recreational divers first visited the site in 1953.  In 1960, a recreational diver brought up a body from the wreck.  This provoked admirals and clergy to petition the U.S. government for petitions on disturbing the dead.

The German crewman was buried with full military honors in Newport, Rhode Island.

As of 1998, two recreational divers had died from exploring the wreckage.  Stephen Hardick died in 2005 while filming the submarine.  He surfaces unconscious and could not be revived.  He was 60 years old and died as a result of saltwater drowning associated with poor according to the Rhode Island  Medical Examiner's office.

On October 26, 2022, a live depth charge was found near the wreckage by fishermen based out of Rhode Island.  It contained 267 pounds of TNT.

--GreGen

USS Eagle 56-- Part 4: Afterwards

On 5 May 1945, the U-583 sank the collier Black Point off the coast of Cape Judit, Rhode Island, causing the loss of 12 lives.  During the ensuing Battle of Point Judith, the U-583 was chased and sunk by Navy and Coast Guard ships on 6 May.

Because the Allies had cracked Germany's codes, the U.S. intelligence knew in 1945 that U-boats had been sent across the North Atlantic to disrupt shipping in hopes of obtaining better surrender terms.  However, only general warnings rather than specific information about this plan were passed to commanders.

RECLASSIFICATION

In 2001, the Naval Historical Center reviewed the case and reclassified the sinking as a combat loss. In June 2001 Purple Heart medals were awarded to three survivors and the next of kin of those killed.

As of 2007, this is the only time that the U.S. Navy has overruled its own Court of Inquiry.

WRECK DISCOVERY

The ship's wreckage was located in June2018 and visited by a civilian dive team later that same month.  It lies 5 miles off the coast of Maine at a depth of 300 feet.  A video taken by the divers shows that the Eagle 56's boilers intact.  The ship's steel plating is starting to waste away, but the site has been designated a war grave and has all the protections associated with it.

GreGen

Naval Ceremony for USS Eagle This Tuesday

From the April 20, 2024, Portland (Maine) Press Herald "Navy vessel sunk off Maine coast during World War II to be remembered at ceremony" by Joel Lawlor.

The ceremony will be held at 11 am Tuesday, 79 years to the day since the USS Eagle 56 was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Cape Elizabeth.

The U.S. Navy will host a wreath-laying ceremony Tuesday, April23, to commemorate the sinking of the USS Eagle 56, a Navy patrol vessel that was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the waning days of the war with Germany.

It is believed that the German submarine U-853 sank the Eagle.

Forty-nine sailors died in the sinking off the coast of Cape Elizabeth (Maine) on April 23, 1945-- exactly 70 years ago Tuesday.  Just 13 were rescued.

The ceremony is set to begin at11 a.m. at Fort Williams Park, will be at the plaque memorializing the USS Eagle, which is located on the south side of the Portland Head Light driveway.

--GreGen

That Land and Those Waters Are Still Dangerous-- Part 2

Continued from April 13.

In the water surrounding the islands, hundreds of corroding shipwrecks from the war still contain trapped oil supplies that some describe as a ticking time bomb.  A major oil spill from one of these rusting wrecks could be a massive disaster.

Indeed, Savo Sound by Guadalcanal was renamed Iron Bottom Sound because of all of the ships sunk in it.

The Solomon Islanders believe those who fought the war on their land should be doing more to clean up the mess they left behind.

In the words of one local:  "When the war ended US, Japanese and allied forces went home in peace. We still do not have peace, until we are safe in the Solomon Islands."

--GreGen

USS Blue (DD-387)-- Part 4: Sunk Off Guadalcanal

After patrolling off Noumea, New Caledonia,  from 13-17 August, 1862, the Blue returned to Guadalcanal, arriving  21 August.  59, 22 August, while patrolling "Ironbottom Sound" she was torpedoed by the Japanese destroyer Kawakaze.

("Ironbottom Sound" was the name given by U.S. sailors for the sea area near Guadalcanal where dozens of ships were sunk and many planes shot down.)

The explosion wrecked the Blue's engines, shafts and steering gear, as well as killing  nine men and wounding 21 others.

Throughout 22 and 23 August, unsuccessful attempts were made to tow the Blue to Tulagi.  

She was scuttled  at 2221  on 23 August 1942 after all attempts to save her failed.

--GreGen

USS Blue (DD-387)-- Part 1

In the last post I wrote that Walter Becker had been a survivor of the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor and also survived the sinking of two ships later in the war.  That would make a total of three ships that sank while he was on them.  Quite a record.

The second ship was the destroyer USS Blue (DD-387),

From Wikipedia.

USS BLUE (DD-387)

The USS Blue was a Bagley-class destroyer and named after Rear Admiral  Victor Blue (1865-1928). She served in World War II.

Launched  27 May 1937 by Norfolk Navy Yard; sponsored by  Miss Kate Lilly Blue, sister of  Rear Admiral Blue.  Commissioned  14 August 1937.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTCS

LENGTH:  341.8 feet

BEAM:  35.6 feet

COMPLEMENT:  158

ARMAMENT:  

four 5-inch guns, four .50 cal guns, 16 torpedo tubes,  two depth charge racks

--GreGen

There Is a Book on German Blockade Runners of World War II and No-Longer the Deepest Wreck Found

There is a book about the German blockade runners of World War II  "Axis Blockade Runners of World War II" by Martin Brice. 

The USS Omaha (CL-4) captured one of the German blockade runners and caused two others to sink.

**************************

Also, earlier I wrote that the SS Rio Grande was the deepest-shipwreck ever found.  It was, until the wreck of the destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557) was located.

On October 25, 1944, the Johnston and  two other destroyers and four  destroyer escorts were engaged by a large Japanese fleet in what is known as the Battle of Samar.  The Johnston and other American ships managed to drive the Japanese off, but the Johnston was sunk with  loss of 187 men.

The Johnston's wreck was discovered  on 30 October  2019, but not positively identified until March 2021.  Lying  more than 20,000 feet below the ocean surface, it is the  deepest shipwreck ever discovered.

(21,180 feet)

--GreGen

German Blockade Runner SS Rio Grande: Deepest Shipwreck Ever Found

From the April17, 2017, Mental Floss "The deepest shipwreck ever found."

According to the Guinness  World Records, the deepest  shipwreck ever identified is that of the German blockade runner from WW II, the SS Rio Grande. 

In early January 1944, it was sunk by two U.S. warships in the South Atlantic Ocean.  It lies at the depth of  about 18,900 feet -- about 3.5 miles below the surface.  It was discovered on November 28, 1996, using side-scanning sonar technology.  Two days later, the company responsible for finding it, Blue Water Recoveries, confirmed the wreck using  a remotely operated  vehicle.

--GreGen

The Nagato After the War: Operation Crossroads

From Wikipedia.

The battleship Nagato was selected for the testing of the atom bombs at Bikini Atoll in Operation Crossroads.

Getting her to the site was not easy with breakdowns and leaking.

The first test of Operation Crossroads was Test Able, an air burst on 1 July 1946 when she was 1640 yards from Ground Zero (just shy of a mile) and she was only lightly damaged.  A skeleton crew boarded the ship to assess damage and to prepare her for the next test on 25 July.  

Test Baker was an underwater explosion and the ship was 950 yards away from Ground Zero (a little over half mile away).  The Nagato rode out the tsunami from the explosion with little apparent damage and had a slight list to the starboard of two degrees when it passed by.

A more thorough assessment couldn't be made because of radioactivity.  Her list gradually increased over the next five days and she capsized and sank during the night of 29/30 July.

The wreck is upside down and her most prominent features are her four propellers at 110 feet below the surface.  She has become a scuba diving destination in recent years and has been named as one of the top ten  wreck diving sites.

--GreGen

Japanese Battleship Kongo-- Part 4: The Sinking and Shipwreck

Within 15 minutes of detaching from the main force, the Kongo was listing 45 degrees and flooding uncontrollably.  At 5:18  the ship lost all power and the order was given to abandon ship.

At 5:24, while the evacuation was underway, the forward  14-inch magazine exploded, and the broken ship sank quickly with the loss of over 1,200 of her crew, including the commander of the  Third Battleship  Division and her captain.

The two escorting destroyers, the Hamakaze and Isokaze picked up the few survivors.  The Hamakaze rescued  7 officers and 139 men.  The Isokaze did the same for 6 officers and 85 men.  The total rescued out of the 1360 complement was just 347.

The wreck of the Kongo has not yet been found.  The wreck of the sistership IJN Hiei was found in 2019 by  Paul Allen.

The Kongo is believed to have sunk in  350 feet of water approximately 55 nautical miles northwest of Keelung. 

She was one of only three British-built battleships sunk by submarine attack during World War II.  The other two were the HMS Royal Oak and the HMS Barham.  (Remember, the Kongo was built in Britain.)

--GreGen

Japanese Ships Sunk During WW II Resurface at Iwo Jima

 Just in time for Halloween, you think?

From October 21, 2021 WION.

Two dozen Japanese ships sunk near the island of Iwo Jima during the war have been raised from the ocean floor due to seismic activity at Mount Suribachi, one of Japan's most dangerous volcanoes.

The 24 Japanese transport vessels were captured by U.S. forces and moved to the western side of the island and sunk to make up for the absence of a port on the island.

The seabed in that area has started rising due to the seismic activity causing them to sit on volcanic ash.

The island today has no inhabitants, but the Japanese military has a presence there.  It was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war.  During the battle, the U.S. lost 7,000 soldiers while the Japanese lost 20,000.  This is where that iconic photograph of Marines raising the flag was taken.

The island was of significant importance to the U.S. as it was thought that it could be used as a Navy base for the invasion of Japan.

Like, Boo!!  --GreGen

WW II Shipwrecks OFF NC's Coast-- Part 5: Many Are War Graves

"Each wreck (story) has two parts:  There's the wreck itself on the bottom,  and the history of what it went through to end up on the bottom." Tane Casserley said.  "Most  of these wreck are war graves.  People died on these (ships)  going down in horrible ways.  Some of the vessels lost up to twenty guys that went down in burning flames and drowned."

In the case of the freighter Portland, which ran aground  in 1943, the July 2021 expedition marked the first time investigators have visited the site.

Another visit is planned for the summer of 2022, in partnership with the heritage-presentation group known as Diving  with a Purpose.  A member of that group was a volunteer in the July expedition according to officials.

Side scan data was collected at  each of the 13  wrecks during the  expedition.  The new sonar imaging  will provide a better  idea of what remains of the  wrecks on the sea floor, officials said.

--GreGen

WW II Wrecks Off NC's Coast-- Part 4: How Many Shipwrecks in the Graveyard of the Atlantic

One of the biggest mysteries of the Graveyard of the  Atlantic is just how many  shipwrecks it holds.  Some experts say 5,000 and others say it is more like 2,000.

Bo matter the number,  the wrecks collectively tell an important story about the United States

"You can throw a rock and hit a shipwreck off North Carolina,"  said Tane Casserley.    "We really have the story of America's rise  as a super power off the coast."

That story includes German U-boats coming to North Carolina, where they sank unarmed merchant ships.  Of the 1,700 men lost in the Battle of the Atlantic, about 1,200 were U.S. merchant marines.

The merchant ships they preyed upon will be a key component of the proposed marine sanctuary expansion, says Casserley, who is resource protection and permit coordinator for the sanctuary.

--GreGen

World War II Wrecks Off North Carolina's Outer Banks-- Part 1: Some Can Move

From the September 6, 2021, Independent Tribune "Shipwrecks can go 'missing' off Outer Banks.  Here's why NOAA team went hunting for 13" by Mark Price of the Charlotte Observer.

They call it the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" off the coast of North Carolina. Ships sink, but do they stay where they sank?  That's what a team set off to see recently.

The fact is, historic shipwrecks can move and appear to go missing at times.

With this in mind, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent an expedition to check on the status of 13 known shipwrecks, most of which were tied with acts of war.  This is also part of a proposed expansion of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

Currents and storms off Cape Hatteras sometimes cover and uncover shipwrecks, even move them.

Among the best-known examples of a shipwreck "moving" off the North Carolina coast took place in 2011 when a shipwreck known as the Spar (a former Coast Guard ship sunk as an artificial reef) was moved about 200 feet by Hurricane Irene.

--GreGen

USS San Francisco-- Part 4: The Sinking of the USS Juneau (CL-52)

As I said at the conclusion of the last post, the transfer of the USS Juneau's medical crew to the USS San Francisco at this time was very fortunate for them.

By 1100,  the Juneau had taken a torpedo  in her port side from the Japanese submarine I-26, striking in the vicinity of the bridge.  "The entire ship seemed to explode  in one mighty column of brown and white smoke and flame which rose  easily a thousand feet into the air.  The Juneau literally  disintegrated."

The San Francisco was hit by several large fragments from the Juneau.  One man was hit, both his legs were broken.

Nothing of the Juneau was seen in the water after the smoke lifted.  The surviving ships were ordered  to keep going and not to look for survivors.  Unfortunately, some 100 Juneau survivors (out of 697 aboard) were forced to wait eight days for rescue while floating on the ocean, undergoing  intense shark attacks.  Only ten survived.

This was also the ship on which the five Sullivan brothers served.  All five died.

The San Francisco then sailed to temporary repairs and then to San Francisco for a major repair and overhaul.

She went on to fight in the rest of the war in the Pacific Theater.

--GreGen

'Deepest Wreck Dive' Reaches U.S. Destroyer Off the Philippines-- Part 1: Destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557)

From the April 4, 2021, Japan Times.

A U.S. Navy destroyer sunk during World War II and lying 6,500 meters below the surface off the Philippines has been reached in what is considered to be the world's deepest  shipwreck dive.

An American submersible filmed, photographed and surveyed the wreckage of the USS Johnston off Samar Island during two eight-hour dives completed late last month.  This was a project by the Texas-based  undersea technology company Caladan Oceanic.

The 115-meter-long ship was sunk on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf as U.S. forces fought to liberate he Philippines, then an American colony, from Japanese occupation.

It's location in the Philippine Sea was discovered in 2019 by another expedition but most of the wreck was beyond the depth its  remotely operated-operated vehicle could go.

--GreGen

USS North Carolina (BB-55) Timeline-- Part 2: Hit By a Torpedo

SEPTEMBER 15, 1942--   The USS North Carolina was struck by a Japanese torpedo, which caused a massive hole in the hull.  The crew was able to recover and the ship did not sink.  (The torpedo was fired by the Japanese submarine I-19.  The spread of six torpedoes it fired that day also sank the aircraft carrier Wasp and the destroyer USS  O-Brien.  Pretty good shooting.)

SEPTEMBER 30, 1942--  The battleship goes to Pearl Harbor for repairs and remains there until November.

JANUARY 1944--  After being mostly out of action in 1943, and after another stint for repairs in Pearl Harbor, the North Carolina arrived at the Gilbert and Marshall islands.  By late March, it had shot down a Japanese aircraft.

JUNE 15, 1944--  In the Mariana and Palau islands, the North Carolina shot down another Japanese aircraft.

JUNE 20, 1944--  In the Battle of the Philippine Sea, along with other battleships, the North Carolina hit the Japanese hard and shot down two more aircraft.

--GreGen

Naval Wreckage Found Off Philippines: Might Be the Wreck of the Destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557)

From the November 1, 2019, Archaeology publication.  U.S. Naval Institute News "World War II-Era wreckage  found in the Philippines."

Discovered over 20,000 feet deep in the Philippine Sea and may be all that is left of the destroyer USS Johnston (DD-557) which was sunk during the Battle of Samar on October 25, 1944.

It was found by a team of researchers from Vulcan Inc, a company founded by the late philanthropist Paul Allen.

During the battle, four Japanese battleships surprised the Johnston and other U.S. ships supporting troop landings on Leyte.  Only 141  of the Johnston's crew of 327 survived.

The wreckage includes unidentifiable pieces of twisted metal, a gun deck and a propeller shaft.  It will be necessary to find part of the ship's hull with the identification number or crew personal effects in order to positively id the ship.  Another Fletcher-Class destroyer, the USS Hoel (DD-533) was also in the area at the time of the battle and sunk.

There was a lot of confusion at the battle.

Always a Great Thing to Locate One of the Sunken Warships.  --GreGen