Underwater researchers have made a remarkable discovery of fragments from a centuries-old US Navy destroyer, the USS Stewart, which had been lost for nearly 80 years. Dubbed the Pacific Ghost, the ship was located off the coast of Northern California at a depth of 1,067 meters (3,500 feet).
The USS Stewart was found within the National Marine Reserve Cordell Bank as part of a collaborative effort involving Ocean Infinity, Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, Search, the National Marine Sanctuaries, and Heritage Management (NHC).
The mission to locate the sunken vessel involved deploying autonomous underwater drones developed by Ocean Infinity to conduct a comprehensive scan of the seabed, which lasted 24 hours. The acquired data revealed a striking image of the sunken ship resting on the ocean floor.
Having been constructed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in September 1919 and commissioned in September 1920, the USS Stewart missed out on participating in World War I but saw action during World War II. Positioned in Manila in 1941 as part of the Asiatic Fleet, Stewart was tasked with countering the imperial Japanese offensive.
By 1942, the ship had sustained battle damage and an accidental incident led to it sinking in a repair dock in Java. Abandoned by the crew as Japanese forces approached the island, this was not the end of Stewart’s story.
The ship was salvaged, repaired, and later incorporated into the Imperial Japanese Fleet under the name “Patrol Ship No. 102,” where it was targeted by allied pilots behind enemy lines.
Upon the war’s conclusion, Stewart was located in Kure, Japan, and eventually returned to the US Navy in San Francisco. In 1946, a ceremony saw Stewart deliberately sunk, followed by missile and machine gun strikes from aircraft and fleet guns.
In recent years, Ocean Infinity and Search also made headlines with the discovery of the USS Nevada in 2020 and EndURANCE, the famous ship of Captain Ernest Shackleton bound for Antarctica in 1915 in 2022.
The use of these cutting-edge autonomous underwater drones may signal the start of a new era in oceanic exploration. With Stewart being just one of the many lost ships waiting to be found, the future looks promising for uncovering more maritime mysteries.