On the morning of December 7, 1941, U.S. naval vessels and aircraft outside Pearl Harbor spotted a partially-submerged submarine trying to enter the harbor. Ninety minutes before Pearl Harbor was bombed by air, the destroyer USS Ward fired on the sub, sinking it. The event marks the first U.S. shots fired and the country’s entry into World War II in the Pacific. https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/press/japanese-mini-subs/
The submarine was discovered in 2002 by the HURL project. The wreck lies five miles from the mouth of Pearl Harbor at 400m depth. It was visited again in 2016 by the NOAA research vessel Okeanos Explorer and it’s ROV Deep Discoverer. The condition of the wreck was deteriorated with two large cracks in the hull and the torpedo guard fallen off. https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/HURLarchive/maritime_tmp.php?category=SUB-2
Data: NOAA Okeanos Explorer (EX1608): FY17 Ship and ROV Shakedown https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/okeanos-rov-cruises/ex1608/
Photogrammetry reconstruction: Simeon Schmauß
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