Underwater expedition unveils new imagery of sunken World War II destroyer

Maritime experts on an expedition around the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific recently explored the wreckage of the USS Laffey, a destroyer sunk during a pivotal series of battles in World War II.

According to the USS Laffey Association, the ship went down on Nov. 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and currently rests upright about half a mile beneath the surface in a region known as the Iron Bottom Sound — a graveyard for dozens of ships and hundreds of planes lost during the six-year-long global conflict.

The latest mission, expedition NA173, was conducted by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust and supported by NOAA.

Over a stretch of 21 days, researchers used a remotely operated vehicle and sophisticated imaging technology to survey the wreckage and other historic sites.

Photos released by the team show the Laffey still sitting upright on the seafloor with much of her bow and midsection intact despite more than 80 years underwater. 

Among the discoveries was a plaque that is still legible, showing the ship’s name and builder information despite decades of exposure on the bottom of the Pacific.

The ship’s wreckage was originally discovered in 1992 during a National Geographic Society expedition led by renowned oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, who is most famous for locating the Titanic in 1985.

Since that initial discovery, the Laffey has been explored less than a handful of times, making this latest adventure a unique opportunity to document the wreckage’s condition.

According to the USS Laffey Association, a torpedo led to the ship’s demise after sailors engaged several Japanese battleships in a ferocious battle. 

Historical records indicate that 59 sailors were killed or lost during the attack on the ship, with more than 100 wounded.

Historians say during the broader conflict, located more than 1,000 miles northeast of Australia, some 20,000 lives were claimed from both the Axis and Allied powers.

Researchers believe at least 111 ships and 1,450 planes were lost in the region during the war, but only a small fraction of these wrecks have been thoroughly explored or documented.

During the three-week-long exploratory mission, experts also investigated the wrecks of Australia’s HMAS Canberra — the largest warship ever lost in battle by the Royal Australian Navy — and several other sites belonging to the U.S. and Japan.