Wreck of 'Pacific Ghost Ship' Found

High-resolution sonar image of the USS Stewart wreck

CBS News on October 3 quoted information from a team of investigators saying they had found the wreck of the USS Stewart, a destroyer that fought under both the American and Japanese flags during World War II before being sunk during a naval exercise in 1946.

The USS Stewart, nicknamed the “Phantom Ship of the Pacific,” was commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1920 before seeing action on the front lines during World War II. Part of the U.S. Navy’s Asiatic Fleet, the destroyer was based in Manila, Philippines, and was damaged in a naval battle in February 1942.

Japanese forces found the ship in a state of repair in Java port (Indonesia), and turned the USS Stewart into a Japanese patrol ship.

After the war ended, the ship was discovered in Kure, Japan, and recovered by the US Navy. USS Stewart was towed to San Francisco, California, and used as a target during naval exercises in 1946.

The moment the USS Stewart was sunk in 1946

The Air-Sea Heritage Foundation and the Search and Rescue Organization announced the discovery of the wreck thanks to the efforts of marine survey firm Ocean Infinity.

Ocean Infinity deployed three unmanned submersibles on October 1 to continuously scan the seabed of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of northern California for 24 hours.

The results showed that the Stewart wreck was at a depth of 1,036 m below sea level.

"Preliminary sonar scans show the Stewart's wreckage to be largely intact and its hull positioned nearly vertical to the seabed," the statement said, adding that it is one of the best-preserved American warship wrecks.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tim-thay-xac-tau-ma-thai-binh-duong-18524100409272932.htm