WWII Wrecks

From Churchill's blockships dotted along the rugged coastline, to dramatic battleships, the wrecks of Scapa Flow continue to fascinate and enthrall divers.

Now limited to the area off Cape Hatteras where the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor sank in 1862, the proposal is to extend NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to include ships sunk in what is known as “Torpedo Alley.” About 1,200 U.S. servicemen lost their lives in shipwrecks off the North Carolina coast – about half the total who died at Pearl Harbor.

At the time of its sinking, Rio de Janeiro was carrying a contingent of German soldiers meant for the invasion of Norway, which occurred on the following day, 9 April 1940. Of the 380 onboard, 50 were crew, the rest were soldiers. Of these numbers, almost 200 lost their lives, but 183 survived and were helped by the locals. Survivors told officials they were heading to Bergen, and even though they were wearing military uniforms, the Norwegian government failed to realize that a German invasion was imminent.

During a survey in 2009, the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) located some twenty wrecks in the area. A recent search revealed an additional 15 wrecks, taking the total to at least 35.

Most of the wrecks stem from the post-WW2 scuttling, but there were also some that we could not associate with this campaign, said chief scientist at Norway's Defence Research Institute, Petter Lågstad.

Some of the wrecks were obviously unrelated to the scuttling because of their size and age.

NOAA, working with private industry partners and the U.S. Navy, has confirmed the location and condition of the USS Independence (CVL-22), the lead ship of its class of light aircraft carriers that were critical during the American naval offensive in the Pacific during World War II.

Resting in 2,600 feet of water off California's Farallon Islands, the carrier is "amazingly intact," said NOAA scientists, with its hull and flight deck clearly visible, with what appears to be a plane in the carrier's hangar bay.

A team led and funded by Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen has located the Musashi on the seabed of the Sibuyan Sea in the Philippines. Allen, 62, whose father served in World War II, says his research team discovered the Musashi's wreckage on March 1 and uploaded a number of pictures of what he described as the ship’s rusty bow, with a Japanese seal clearly visible.

During bloody battles in 1944 between American and Japanese almost two dozen aircraft had fallen into waters around Palau, leaving around 70 airmen missing in action.

The Japanese wanted to use the islands for battle preparation and refuelling grounds — and so did the Allies. Numerous aircraft were lost in the waters of Palau, submerged for decades with little closure for the families of fallen airmen.