This file image shows wreckage from the USS Lexington during a discovery mission by the Petrel research vessel. DOUGLAS CURRAN/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Deep in the South Pacific Ocean, researchers have located the final resting place of the USS Hornet, the World War II aircraft carrier sunk in a 1942 battle with the Japanese Navy.
Overhead sonar images show the carrier lying eerily upright and nearly intact on the deep and desolate ocean floor.
The aircraft carrier was located in late January by the research vessel R/V Petrel in waters nearly 17,500 feet deep around the Solomon Islands.
Because of the ocean depth where it was located, the entire ship shows little sign of deterioration or buildup from ocean life.
Close-up underwater images capture the moment in time shortly after the carrier sank the night of Oct. 26, 1942, during the two-day Battle of Santa Cruz Island.
One image shows an aircraft tug with its black rubber tires still gripping the carrier’s deck where it would have moved aircraft into position. A sign with the tug’s maker, “International Harvester,” is clearly visible atop its engine.
Also visible are the anti-aircraft weapons used to fend off the intense bombardment from Japanese aircraft.
In the end, the resulting fires and damage to the ship from the bombs dropped by Japanese planes were too much and the Hornet’s 2,000-strong crew was forced to abandon ship.
After U.S. Navy ships tried without success to scuttle the ship, the carrier was finally sunk by four torpedoes fired by two Japanese destroyers.
111 sailors from the Hornet’s crew lost their lives in the battle.
The carrier was best known for its role in the famous Doolittle Raid in April 1942, when 16 B-25 bombers took off from the ship’s deck for a surprise bombing raid on Tokyo.
Later that summer, the ship participated in the Battle of Midway, the pivotal aircraft carrier battle that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.
The carrier was best known for its role in the famous Doolittle Raid in April 1942, when 16 B-25 bombers took off from the ship’s deck for a surprise bombing raid on Tokyo.
Later that summer, the ship participated in the Battle of Midway, the pivotal aircraft carrier battle that turned the tide of the war in the Pacific.
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