Scientists uncover WWII sub lost for 75 years in groundbreaking find to alter history

Scientists on a mission searching for relics had up until recently been dumbfounded in their search, seemingly unable to uncover anything from a site that should otherwise be full of WWII shrapnel. It had, up until this point, proved a mystery for researchers, beginning in January 1944 when the USS Grayback left Pearl Harbour for its 10th combat patrol.

At the time, the Navy listed the submarine as missing and presumed as lost.

A month after the USS Grayback left, in February 1944, it reported back to base its sinking two Japanese cargo ships days earlier.

Receiving the news, the US navy ordered it to come back to replenish its torpedo supply.

It never did return.

Scientists uncover WWII sub lost for 75 years in groundbreaking find to alter history

Scientists uncover WWII sub lost for 75 years in groundbreaking find to alter history (Image: GETTY)

Tim Taylor led the mission off the coast of Japan

Tim Taylor led the mission off the coast of Japan (Image: Washington Post/Lost 52)

It then attempted to muster up a search for 52 submarines lost in similar circumstances after the war, with official records in 1949 approximating each vessels location.

According to Japanese records, the Grayback was thought to have sunk in the open ocean some 100 miles east of Okinawa.

The US navy went adopted this estimation, unknowing that the Japanese had got a single digit wrong in the ship’s latitude and longitude coordinates.

The error went undiscovered until last year, when an American undersea explorer asked Japanese researcher, Yutaka Iwasaki, to go through official Japanese records to ensure translations had been correct.

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An under water autonomous drone was sent underwater to search for the relic

An under water autonomous drone was sent underwater to search for the relic (Image: Washington Post/Lost 52)

Mr Iwasaki was able to trace a lead from an entry in February 1944.

A longitude and latitude that did not correspond with the information held by the US navy soon became apparent.

US researchers and sea explorers used the newly discovered coordinates to search an open stretch of ocean previously not considered.

Tim Taylor, lead researcher of the Lost 52 project, was about to terminate the mission before receiving an anomalous reading on the ocean floor.

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[ANALYSIS]

The underwater drone beamed back images of the ship laying on the seabed

The underwater drone beamed back images of the ship laying on the seabed (Image: Washington Post/Lost 52)

It had been colonised by fish and other sea critters

It had been colonised by fish and other sea critters (Image: Washington Post/Lost 52)

This reading, picked up by autonomous underwater vehicles, beamed back an image of a hulking ship rusting on the sea bed.

Mr Taylor told the Washington Post: “It was amazing. Everyone was excited.

“Then you realise there are 80 men buried there, and it’s a sobering experience.”

The discovery ended the 75-year-old mystery behind the fate of the USS Grayback, which was generally regarded as one of WWII’s most effective submarines before its disappearance.

The USS Grayback set out for Japan in 1944 and never returned

The USS Grayback set out for Japan in 1944 and never returned (Image: GETTY)

The news not only excited history buffs and researchers alike, but also provided closure to the relatives of the sailors lost – some 80 American sailors.

A relative of one of the sailors, Gloria Hurney, whose uncle Raymond Parks died on the Grayback, told ABC News: “There’s a book I read, and it said these ships are known only to God.

“But now we know where the Grayback is.”

It is not the first time Mr Taylor has discovered a lost American warship.

The USS Grayback under construction

The USS Grayback under construction (Image: GETTY)

In 2010, one of his autonomous underwater vehicles discovered the USS R-12, which met its fate in an accidental sinking in Florida in 1943.

This discovery then led to Mr Taylor’s founding Lost 52, which is dedicated to using cutting edge technology to find long-lost WWII submarines.

Both himself and his wife, Christine Dennison, an explorer, found many ships in the run up to the big USS Grayback find.

source: express.co.uk