The robots had identified the wreck of the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific,” the sole US Navy destroyer captured by Japanese forces during World War II. Once known as the USS Stewart or DD-224, the ship now lies in what is currently the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, reports Times New World.
Ghost Ship of the Pacific
On August 1, a vessel released an unusual payload into the ocean approximately 70 miles northwest of San Francisco: three orange robots, each over 20 feet in length and resembling torpedoes. For a day, these aquatic drones autonomously navigated the waters, surveying nearly 50 square miles of the ocean floor.
About 3,500 feet below the surface, an unusual image emerged on the robots’ advanced sonar. In the depths of the darkness, the drones detected what appeared to be a ghost. The robots had identified the wreck of the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific,” the sole US Navy destroyer captured by Japanese forces during World War II. Once known as the USS Stewart or DD-224, the ship now lies in what is currently the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
According to the New York Post, three days later, another group of underwater robots captured the historic wreck. Despite being cloaked in decades of marine growth and hosting sponges and skittering crabs, the 314-foot-long destroyer is remarkably well-preserved and stands almost upright on the seafloor.
The discovery, made during a technology demonstration, underscores the effectiveness of modern robotic ocean exploration. Ocean Infinity, the marine robotics company that operated the drones that made the discovery, boasts the world’s largest fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles.
These drones generate high-resolution maps of the seafloor, addressing a significant gap in our understanding of the oceans. This technology is also essential for determining sites for offshore construction projects, such as wind farms and oil rigs, as well as for planning routes for undersea pipelines and cables.
These robotic fleets are becoming increasingly valuable to marine archaeologists. In 2020, Ocean Infinity assisted in locating the wreck of the USS Nevada. The following year, the company played a key role in the rediscovery of the Endurance, which sank during Ernest Shackleton’s 1915 expedition.
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Source: Times Now World
