A World War II Navy destroyer was discovered off the coast of the Philippines in the “deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed,” according to the explorers who found the ship.
Caladan Oceanic, a Texas based underwater exploration group, and EYOS Expeditions found the wreck of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, which had sunk on October 25, 1944. The ship was challenging the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in a battle near Samar, one of the Philippines’ central islands.
“With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed,” Victor Vescovo, founder of Caladan Oceanic, tweeted.
With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the "destroyer escort that fought like a battleship." pic.twitter.com/VjNVERdTxh
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022
Vescovo also shared footage from the expedition, showing the destroyer resting on the sea floor four miles below the surface. You can see fish swimming by in the video taken from the Limiting Factor sub.
Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end. pic.twitter.com/fvi6uB0xUQ
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022
“Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end,” he explained.
Days before they found the Sammy B, the expedition located a torpedo rack they believed to be from the ship. During the battle, which was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the ship went down losing 89 men from its crew of 224 after being hit by Japanese fire.
“This site is a hallowed war grave,” retired Rear Adm. Sam Cox said, according to the Washington Post. Cox runs the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C.
Vescovo shared more photos of the historic discovery, the deepest shipwreck ever found, on twitter, including the bow, the mast, and the aft turret.
Some additional photos from the Sammy B. The bow, the fallen mast, the gap between fore and aft where she was hit by a battleship round, and the aft turret . . . where the brave and mortally wounded GM3 Paul H. Carr died trying to place a final round into the broken breech. pic.twitter.com/3VcZoZyPo3
— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 25, 2022
He called the discovery an “honor.”
“It was an extraordinary honor to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice,” Vescovo stated.
Kelvin Murray of EYOS also was thrilled to have helped discover the ship.
“Using a combination of detective work and innovative technology, everyone has pulled together to reveal the final resting place of this tenacious ship,” he said.
The discovery of the Sammy B follows Vescovo’s discovery of the USS Johnston last year, which went down in the same battle. Despite these losses and the Americans being outgunned, the U.S. still managed to defeat the Japanese.