World's deepest wreck discovered - video

The survey team working aboard the RV “Pterel” has reported finding the deepest wreck ever located. The ship found is definitely an American Fletcher class destroyer, but its identity cannot be stated with certainty as two such vessels have sunk in the area.

The find was made a few days after the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where the USS “Johnston” played an important role before being sunk on October 25, 1944. At the time, 186 crew members were killed. Now the wreck of the US Fletcher-class destroyer, which measures almost 115 metres long, has been located at a depth of 6220 metres, making it now the deepest wreck in the world.

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In the attached video, members of the research team Rob Craft and Paul Meyer debate (unfortunately only in English) about the found wreck, and present arguments that, according to them, prove that the located vessel is the wreck of the USS “Johnston” (DD-557).

Images of twisted metal, destroyed deck armament, a propeller shaft and other less identifiable debris were released Wednesday by a research team from the RV “Petrel” unit. The debris was found more than 6km below the surface of the water, just at the edge of a steep sea chasm, in a location that is difficult to access even for such sophisticated equipment as the team set up by the late Paul Allen.

Clear evidence will be needed for conclusive identification. There was considerable chaos during the clash, and nearby was a destroyer of the same class, the USS “Hoel” (DD-533), which was also sunk by the Japanese navy.

Paul Kraft argues, however, that the place where the wreck was found suggests that it is the ‘Johnston’ after all. All because of the location of the wreck, which is in the southern part of the battlefield, and it was here 75 years ago that the USS “Johnston” was sunk as the last unit lost by the Americans during the battle in the Gulf of Leyte.

Source: paulallen.com, fb.com/rvpetrel