The US Navy submarine USS Albacore, which was lost at sea on November 7 1944 has been located off the coast of northern Japan.
The vessel was used during World War 2, sinking 10 confirmed enemy crafts and disappearing during its 11th war patrol, likely after striking a mine. Albacore earned nine battle stars and four Presidential Unit Citations.
Remotely operated underwater vehicles were used to locate Albacore, using Japanese records that documented an explosion off Hokkaido on the day the vessel was lost.
In the mission carried out by Dr Tamaki Ura from the University of Tokyo, the autonomous craft caught several key features of a late 1944 Gato-class submarine on video.
Dr Ura provided the images to the U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB), who confirmed the identity of the findings.
They said: “Indications of documented modifications made to Albacore prior to her final patrol such as the presence of an SJ Radar dish and mast, a row of vent holes along the top of the superstructure, and the absence of steel plates along the upper edge of the fairwater allowed UAB to confirm the wreck site finding as Albacore.”
The resting place of Albacore is now treated as a gravesite under the NHHC’s jurisdiction, with the location protected by the Abandoned Shipwrecks Act.
NHHC director Samuel J. Cox, U.S said: “As the final resting place for sailors who gave their life in defense of our nation, we sincerely thank and congratulate Dr. Ura and his team for their efforts in locating the wreck of Albacore.
“It is through their hard work and continued collaboration that we could confirm Albacore’s identity after being lost at sea for over 70 years.”
On locating Albacore, Dr Ura told Japan’s NHK News: “Using a high-performance sonar that searches underwater with sound waves, we discovered what seems to be a hull of about (164 feet) in the seabed of about (820 feet).
“On the 26th, when I submerged the underwater robot camera and took a picture, I caught a part that seems to be a bridge and a pillar that looks like a periscope.”
Albacore had a crew of 85 when it disappeared, and was likely to be positioned to ambush any shipping vessels transiting the Tsugaru Strait, between Hokkaido and Honshu.
She was reportedly instructed to stay out of the strait itself, which the U.S. Navy believed might be mined.
