“Deep-sea explorers scouring the world's oceans for sunken World War II ships are investigating what they believe could be the third ship of seven lost to the Pacific during the Battle of Midway.

Hundreds of miles off Midway Atoll, nearly halfway between the United States and Japan, a research vessel is launching underwater robots miles into the abyss to look for warships from the famed Battle of Midway.

Weeks of grid searches around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have already led the crew of the Petrel to one sunken warship, the Japanese ship the Kaga…”

https://mol.im/a/7586959

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

AWESOME!!!!

I know they found parts of her years ago (debris thrown from the ship in an explosion hours before she went down). Hopefully, they can find the other 3 carriers now.

Cool!

It is cool, but why? Is there some unanswered question? Is our understanding of what happened going to change? Or is this a just because we can endeavor?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
It is cool, but why? Is there some unanswered question? Is our understanding of what happened going to change? Or is this a just because we can endeavor?

The uncovering of history is an incredible feat in and of itself, but the stretching of the technology to enable said feat stands to benefit all of humanity if there’s ever something down there we really need.

It’s not unlike space exploration. If we ever lose the will/desire to explore, we’ve lost some of what makes us human.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
It is cool, but why? Is there some unanswered question? Is our understanding of what happened going to change? Or is this a just because we can endeavor?

It may just be, that relatives have a final resting place for their sailors. Is anything else needed?

Thank you for posting. Very interesting. I do not believe tax dollars were spent on this endeavor, so do not understand the criticism. History, exploration and scientific endeavors are important. The reminder of the cost of war and the sacrifices made should be remembered.

They should raise it so that we can sink the motherfucker again. It was a bad day for Japan, but not bad enough in my book.

I got your imperialist ambitions, hangin' low.

That's swell, now go find flight 370.

I honestly just don't get it. We all know when, where and how it was sunk. What is left to know?

Spend millions of dollars to take some pictures of a rotting hull 75 years later? Just to say that we could?

Everybody thought it was great when Titanic was found. Does the fact that this one was used by what was at that time the enemy make a difference? How do you know the lessons learned here won't eventually find one of ours?

quote:

Hundreds of miles off Midway Atoll, nearly halfway between the United States and Japan, a research vessel is launching underwater robots miles into the abyss to look for warships from the famed Battle of Midway.

I read from this that they are looking for all the ships sunk there. This one happened to be the first one found. The coordinates where a ship sinks on the surface aren't where it will land on the bottom. It could roll, flip end over end, be pushed off course by undersea currents, or any or all of those, and drift dozens of miles. It could break up into pieces that each take their own path and get scattered. The bottom of the ocean is also not flat. Maybe it landed in an undersea canyon or between mountains. I understand the waters there are extremely deep as well. Finding anything at all is a huge challenge.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

The actual location where these ships sunk has always been a mystery. In battle, precise navigational fixes are not always a priority. The ships also traveled miles, in some cases, from where they were attacked to where they sunk. 3 of the Japanese carriers should be within a dozen miles or so of each other (Kaga, Akagi, Soryu). Hiryu was struck later in the day and she sank without witnesses (except for some survivors who never evacuated the ship until after the fleet abandoned her).

I am eager to see all 4 IJN carriers found. Those ships are historical sites, and studying them will help better understand the war and the way it was fought.

Pipe Smoker’s link to the Daily Mail article (why isn’t this news in US papers??) gives us a long article with some historic photos of the Yorktown after being hit, and a number of other interesting photos—how about the one of the Kaga steaming in a circle?

Here’s why this work is continuing, per Rob Kraft, the director of the operation:

quote:

Rob Kraft, director of subsea operations on the Petrel, says Allen gave him and his crew a mission to preserve history, educate people about the past and honour those who fought on these great ships. Allen died last year.

Mr Kraft said: 'We're still carrying on Paul's legacy to honour our service members.

'This originated from his desire to honour his father's service to his country, and to remember our service members and to make sure that future generations remember that as well, and they actually understand what that means and to respect that.'

This is being done at a time when a very few of the centenarians who sailed on those US carriers are still alive to tell the story.

This same crew found the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis, and that brought that story once again to life for a new generation.

quote:

This same crew found the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis, and that brought that story once again to life for a new generation.

^^^^^^^
Excellent post. That is why we have museums. If we do not understand History we are condemmed to repeat it.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

It may just be, that relatives have a final resting place for their sailors. Is anything else needed?

No.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Thank you for posting. Very interesting. I do not believe tax dollars were spent on this endeavor, so do not understand the criticism. History, exploration and scientific endeavors are important. The reminder of the cost of war and the sacrifices made should be remembered.

Who was being critical of the endeavor? Platitudes don't answer why for this endeavor.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
I honestly just don't get it. We all know when, where and how it was sunk. What is left to know?

Spend millions of dollars to take some pictures of a rotting hull 75 years later? Just to say that we could?

I'm of the opinion that private money spent on such a project is probably better spent than the government trying to do it. The above poster is entitled to his opinions, but that doesn't make him right. A far worse thing is the government taxing the private individual and then spending/wasting the money on whims of congress.

quote:

Who was being critical of the endeavor? Platitudes don't answer why for this endeavor.

^^^^^^
I believe Rob Kraft has an email if you are questioning the rationale for this endeavor. He would probably welcome hearing from you.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Who was being critical of the endeavor? Platitudes don't answer why for this endeavor.

^^^^^^
I believe Rob Kraft has an email if you are questioning the rationale for this endeavor. He would probably welcome hearing from you.

Mr. Kraft will not be able to answer who you thought posted anything critical of his endeavor.

Who do you believe was being critical? There's 6 posts above the yours claiming criticism.

quote:

Mr. Kraft will not be able to answer who you thought posted anything critical of his endeavor

^^
I would have suggested you contact Paul Allen who funded the endeavor, but he is not available.

What in the world are you guys arguing about?