https://www.paulallen.com/uss-...r-sullivan-brothers/

The five Sullivan brothers were from Waterloo IA, about two hours northwest of me.

Outstanding!

That's the fifth WW2 US Navy wreck that Paul Allen's exploration vessel has discovered in the past 7 months, and the second in the past two weeks:

USS Indianapolis (CA-35) - August 19, 2017
USS Ward (DD-139) - December 7th, 2017
USS Cooper (DD-695) - December 9th, 2017
USS Lexington (CV-2) - March 5, 2018
USS Juneau (CL-52) - March 17, 2018

In the past year, they've also discovered the wreck of the WW2 Italian Navy destroyer Artigliere off the coast of Sicily, as well as nine WW2 Japanese Navy warship wrecks in the waters around the Philippines, including the battleships Yamashiro and Fusō, and the destroyers Michishio, Yamagumo, Asagumo, Shimakaze, Hamanami, Wakatsuki and Naganami.

2.6 miles below the surface...wow. Thanks for sharing

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
https://www.paulallen.com/uss-...r-sullivan-brothers/

The five Sullivan brothers were from Waterloo IA, about two hours northwest of me.

My last three years in the Marine Corps, I was stationed in Waterloo. Waterloo/Cedar Falls was a pretty good place to spend some time. Folks there are the salt of the earth. I hated to leave.

I trust the Sullivan brothers are all together today in a much better place, and probably continue to display noble character.

CL - light cruiser.

Do they know if it was an air or sub launched torpedo?

1 from a destroyer, 1 from a sub

The sad part is that there were about 100 survivors of the Juneau who survived the sinking, there was a FUBAR regarding messages about survivors. I believe in the end eight were rescued and told what had happened to the other survivors. Three of the brothers were killed instantly, one drowned shortly after, the last brother, George, thought to have died from delirium caused by hypernatremia four or five days after the sinking. The Wikipedia article on the brothers is hard to get through.

Wikipedia link

My grandfather was part of that task force but his ship, USS Wasp, was sunk in September before the Juneau

If you want to read a great book detailing this incident, pick up Neptunes Inferno. Great historical overview of Guadalcanal and the Solomons.

Detailed perspective on US vs. Japan destroyer and cruiser engagements after Midway. (and a few battleship scuffles too !)

quote:

Originally posted by f2:
CL - light cruiser.

Do they know if it was an air or sub launched torpedo?

Juneau was actually an anti-aircraft cruiser (CLAA), very lightly armoured and was never designed to take part in a surface action. She was like Grandma in a barroom brawl. Her sister ship the Atlanta was also sunk as a result of surface action around Guadalcanal IIRC. Very tragic, and an indication of how short the US navy was of surface combat ships at this time.

**correction**. The Atlanta class light cruisers were originally designated as 'destroyer flotilla leaders', with torpedo tubes, limited depth charge capbility and a main battery of 5" dual purpose guns. Their numerous but limited caliber main battery guns and light armour made them much more suited to carrier task groups than to surface task forces, especially given their substantial superstructure which made them stand out. Most naval history I have read refers to the Atlanta/Oakland class light cruisers as anti-aircraft cruisers.

The Sullivan brothers were from Waterloo IA, here's an article from the local paper:

http://wcfcourier.com/news/loc...rce=home-top-story-2

Juneau wreckage bittersweet find for Sullivans, families

PAT KINNEY pat.kinney@wcfcourier.com Mar 20, 2018 Updated 4 hrs ago

WATERLOO -- Saturday's discovery of the wreckage of the USS Juneau, on which Waterloo's five Sullivan brothers served and perished with nearly 700 shipmates during World War II, was an emotional, bittersweet experience for the fallen sailors' descendants.

"There's over 700 Navy families affected by this and my heart goes out to all those people," said Kelly Sullivan, granddaughter of Albert Sullivan and grandniece of George, Francis, Joseph and Madison Sullivan, who all died after the Juneau was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sunk on Nov. 13, 1942.

"For me, it's like finding my grandfather's grave," said Knute Swensen of Huntington Beach, Calif., the grandson of the Juneau's commanding officer, Capt. Lyman K. Swenson, also among the Juneau dead.

The crew of the Research Vessel Petrel, on an expedition financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, found the Juneau's wreck at the bottom of "Ironbottom Sound" off Guadalcanal in the Solomons on St. Patrick's Day.

In an audio accompanying a video of the wreckage, Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for the expedition, noted it was appropriate the Juneau's remains were discovered on St. Patrick's Day, given the Sullivan brothers' Irish heritage.

"The luck of the Irish was with them," Kelly Sullivan said, echoing a wish she made for the USS The Sullivans, the current Navy destroyer named for her grandfather and great uncles, when she christened the ship in Bath, Maine, in 1995. She is the official Navy sponsor of that ship.

The crew of the Petrel sent a message to The Courier, which said: "Our team is comprised of professional subsea operators and engineers with years of experience in the industry who are truly humbled with the opportunity to honor our fallen servicemen and provide some closure to their families."

The crew credited Allen with making the expedition possible.

Ironically, Kelly Sullivan was at the USS The Sullivans on St. Patrick's Day at its home port of Mayport, Fla., attending a retirement celebration for one of its former commanding officers.

"When this discovery happened, I was sitting on the fantail of the Sullivans...It's unbelievable," Sullivan said.

On her return trip home Sunday, she heard word of the discovery from U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Rich Brown, commander of Navy surface forces and a former commanding officer of the USS The Sullivans. Brown was in Waterloo last November for a 75th anniversary commemoration of the Juneau's sinking. On Monday, Knute Swensen contacted her.

"It's bittersweet, this feeling," Sullivan said. "There's closure. It also opens a wound."

She said her father, Albert's son, Jim Sullivan, reacted with surprise and had similar feelings.

"My first thought was my prayers for all the Juneau families, not just the Sullivan brothers," Kelly Sullivan said, and all veterans and their families. She said her great-grandmother, Alleta Sullivan, never really had closure because her sons' bodies were never recovered and held out hope they may have survived.

Swensen said he watched the Petrel's undersea video in amazement as the crew made out the Juneaus name inscribed across the fantail.

"Seeing that video gave me chills," he said.

He also thought of his father, U.S. Navy Cmdr Robert Swensen, who passed away in April 2016 at age 93 and was very close to his father, the Juneau commander. Knute's grandfather's surname was misspelled as "Swenson" by a staff member at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., and he never had it corrected. It was at Annapolis, when Robert was a cadet, that the Juneau commander and his son had their last meeting.

In an audio accompanying the video, Kraft of the Petrel expedition notes the ship's bow and stern were found relatively close to each other but the ship's debris was scattered over a mile on the ocean floor -- an indication of the devastating explosion which sunk her.

Most of the sailors were killed during the actual sinking; more than 100 died at sea in the days that followed from wounds, exposure or shark attacks, including George Sullivan, the oldest of the brothers. Ten sailors survived the actual sinking plus a four-person medical crew sent to the USS San Francisco to tend to wounded there prior to the attack.

Swensen hopes the Juneau crew's valor is also remembered. The ship earned multiple battles stars for the engagements in which it fought -- including one the night before its sinking, when it and other outgunned American ships turned back a Japanese task force headed for embattled U.S troops at Guadalcanal.

Sullivan praised Paul Allen's passion for pursuing the expedition -- a lesson she used it as an example for her third-graders at Lincoln Elementary School in Cedar Falls.

"I really admire Mr. Allen and his crew for having the faith to do this," she said, and encouraged her students to pursue their passions as well.

Both were in New York this past November at the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Juneau's sinking at the same Staten Island pier where the ship was commissioned into the Navy in 1997. That ceremony was across New York harbor from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where the Juneau was commissioned into the Navy and sailed out of the harbor, never to return.

She hopes the USS The Sullivans can sail to the Juneau's final resting place on a future mission, with some of its sailors surviving family members.