Mystery Beneath the Waves: WWII’s USS Hornet Discovered in Uncharted Depths 17,500 Feet Below Pacific Surface
Locating both the Hiei and the Hornet was accomplished in large part by utilizing a deep sea vessel dubbed R/V Petrel, which can sustain the atmospheric pressure of traveling three miles beneath the Pacific Ocean’s surface while capturing high-resolution imagery with ease.
R/V PetrelDamage to the USS Hornet’s hull.
The Hornet was a renowned ship at the time as it launched the first airstrike to hit the Japanese mainland during World War II.
Ordered to production from the Newport News Shipbuilding Company in 1939 and commissioned into the Navy two months before Pearl Harbor, it was irrevocably damaged by Japanese torpedoes in 1942 and subsequently abandoned before sinking to its final resting place.
During its time as a prime example of the American defense machinery, however, it provided a portable runway for B-25s to strike their targets in Tokyo, Yokosuka, Kobe, and Nagoya. In that sense, it provided a priceless boost to America’s morale and confidence in the country’s war efforts after Pearl Harbor.
Though the storybooks seemed eternally closed on the USS Hornet, the R/V Petrel finally found its wreckage “on the bottom of the South Pacific Ocean.”
“The 10-person expedition team on the 250-foot R/V Petrel were able to locate the Hornet’s position by piecing together data from national and naval archives that include official deck logs and action reports from other ships engaged in the battle,” Paul Allen’s website explained.
“Positions and sightings from nine other U.S. warships in the area we’re plotted on a chart to generate the starting point for the search grid. In the case of the Hornet, she was discovered on the first dive mission of the Petrel’s autonomous underwater vehicle and confirmed by the video footage.”
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