WWII American warship’s severed bow found 80 years after being blown off in battle

A team of researchers recently discovered a historic bow that was blown off a World War II U.S. Navy ship during a historic battle that took place nearly 83 years ago.

The long-lost bow — which was torn off the USS New Orleans in the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942 — was found around 2,200 feet underwater in the Solomon Islands’ Iron Bottom Sound, according to a news release from the Ocean Exploration Trust.

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Hundreds of experts worked together to identify the finding covered in marine growth by observing details in its paint, structure and anchor. Trash had also accumulated around parts of the wreckage, as noted in the release.

“The wreck was located during seafloor mapping operations by an uncrewed surface vehicle, then investigated shortly thereafter by a deep-diving remotely operated vehicle,” Ocean Exploration Trust’s Chief Scientist Daniel Wagner said in a statement. “This imagery was viewed in real-time by hundreds of experts around the world, who all worked together to make a positive identification of the finding.”

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In a naval engagement involving U.S. and Japanese forces during WWII, the USS New Orleans was struck by one of the Japanese Navy’s Type 93 “Long Lance” torpedoes, which detonated the ship’s forward magazines and tore off nearly one-third of the ship — including the bow. 

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More than 180 crew members died in the explosion, the Ocean Exploration Trust noted.

Three crew members lost their lives while trying to save the USS New Orleans, which was flooding and bow-less, and later received posthumous Navy Crosses for their heroic efforts. The Navy ship was taken back to the nearby Tulagi Harbor, and the crew used coconut logs to stabilize the ship enough to sail it back to the U.S. for permanent repairs, according to the Ocean Exploration Trust.

“By all rights, this ship should have sunk, but due to the heroic damage control efforts of her crew, USS New Orleans became the most grievously damaged US cruiser in WWII to actually survive,” Naval History and Heritage Command Director Samuel J. Cox, a retired Navy Rear Admiral, said in a statement.

Last year, the wreckage of the USS Edsall, an American warship that was sunk during a battle with Japanese forces in World War II, was discovered more than 80 years after it was lost at the bottom of the sea.