Both of these videos are less than a couple weeks old. First visit to the Yorktown in 25 years and First video ever of the Akagi since it's sinking during the Battle of Midway in '42.

Enjoy!


USS Yorktown:


IJN Akagi:

Ok, that was the coolest thing I've seen all month.

I wonder if anybody is going to make a book about the various ships they've found recently. Robert Ballard had books published on the Bismarck, the Titanic, Lusitania, and the ships of Ironbottom Sound (off Guadalcanal), and IIRC USS Yorktown, lost at Midway (I actually own all these). They were all excellent, with plenty of photos, artist renditions (since one photo cannot encompass the entire ship at those depths), and historical background of the life of the ships and then the events that led to the ships' losses.

Since then, they have found USS Indianapolis (sunk by sub after delivering atomic bomb components), Hornet (Santa Cruz, near the Solomons), Lexington (Coral Sea) Johnson (Battle off Samar), and a bunch of others. I would love to see them studied in the same depth as the others. . .

Here's a new video of the Kaga. I wonder why they're looking at all these ships again. I'm guessing better cameras etc...

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
Here's a new video of the Kaga. I wonder why they're looking at all these ships again. I'm guessing better cameras etc...

Not sure about the 'again' part. They found Yorktown years ago, but this is the first I've heard that they found Akagi and Kaga. That is a BIG deal (to history nerds like me, at least).

Soryu should be in the general vicinity of Akagi and Kaga. The 4th IJN carrier lost at Midway, Hiryu, went down a day later with only a handful of witnesses. After she was abandoned, some engine room crewmen made it off in a lifeboat to be picked up by US forces, so nobody even got a rough estimate of where she sank. It would take a miracle to find her.

Thanks so much Shaql for finding these videos.

My Dad was a senior engineer for Sanders and Associates (the largest employer in the state of NH back in the day) and spent most of his time on loan to the Navy for his technical expertise. One of his crowning achievements that he could tell me about was his role in the development of the Nautilus. I was able to actually go inside the submersible at its berth in Woods Hole, Ma. many years ago. Interestingly the submersible was supposedly built for scientific exploration (which it certainly did) but was also involved in many classified Navy projects as well which is why it was primarily funded by the Navy (although not publicly known).

Here we are many decades later and still using this amazing vessel although I’m sure the electronics have been continuously updated throughout the decades.

Thanks Dad!