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Destroyer was found at a depth of almost 7,000 meters
Researchers have discovered the wreck of the "USS Samuel B Roberts," a U.S. warship sunk off the Philippine coast during World War II, at a depth of nearly 7,000 meters. The wreck is thus the deepest wreck ever found, according to the US company Caladan Oceanic. The wreck of the "RMS Titanic" lies - for comparison - at a depth of "only" 3,800 meters.
The Samuel B. Roberts, a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, had its keel laid on Dec. 6, 1943, at Brown Shipbuilding in Houston, Texas. The ship was launched on January 20, 1944. Commissioning into the U.S. Navy took place on April 28, 1944, under the command of Lt. Comdr. R. W. Copeland.
Class destroyer escorts were surface warships developed during World War II for sea areas where Allied convoys faced attacks by enemy aircraft and light surface units in addition to the submarine threat. Compared to corvettes or frigates, convoy destroyers are larger, faster and more heavily armed. Furthermore, anti-submarine defenses are more developed in this type of ship. The Samuel B. Roberts had a length of 93m, a beam of 11m and a standard displacement of 1350 ts.
Heavy naval battle and award of the "Battle Star"
After initial sea trials off Bermuda, the Samuel B. Roberts, also named "Sammy B", departed Norfolk on 22 July, transited the Panama Canal five days later, and became part of the Pacific Fleet. The area of operations for the destroyer was to be the Philippines where the ship immediately departed.
On the morning of October 25, 1944, the Samuel B. Roberts, along with other light units, was securing a convoy of escort carriers in the sea area off Samar, in Leyte Gulf, when a Japanese task force appeared on the horizon and opened fire. The Samuel B. Roberts participated in a torpedo attack on the Japanese cruisers, managing to land a torpedo hit on the Chōkai. In addition, the convoy destroyer still fired her guns at the far superior heavy cruiser, causing heavy damage to her deck. The cruiser Chikuma then attacked the Samuel B. Roberts with her guns; the Samuel B. Roberts was also able to score several hits in the bridge area. However, the destroyer was hit by heavy return fire at engine room level with disastrous results. The commander then gave the order to evacuate the ship. Just 30 minutes later, the Samuel B. Roberts sank with 89 crew members. 120 survivors were rescued after two days.
The battle off Samar was part of the larger naval Battle of Leyte, in which the Japanese Navy fought the U.S. Navy for days to repel a landing of Allied forces in the Philippines. The "Sammy B" was one of four U.S. ships sunk on October 25, 1944.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts received a Battle Star for her actions and was specifically mentioned in the Presidential Unit Citation for Task Unit 77.4.3 "for extraordinary heroism in action."
Found at a depth of nearly 7,000 meters
The hull of the vessel, has now been filmed, photographed and surveyed by a manned submersible during several dives, according to Caladan Oceanic and EYOS Expeditions, which jointly conducted the search expedition. Among the items seen are the ship's torpedo launcher and gun mount.
It is possible that there are other ships deeper than the Sammy B now found at 6,895 meters. "There are two other American ships that have not yet been found - the USS Gambier Bay (escort carrier) and the USS Hoel (destroyer)," said Kelvin Murray of EYOS, the company that led the expedition.
"We have historical records of where they may have sunk. We've been looking for Gambier Bay, but that's detective work, and this kind of deep-sea operation has never been done before. I don't want to use the phrase 'needle in a haystack' because there is a lot more research to be done to reduce that haystack. But it also takes a certain amount of luck."
AFP Video (youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R14xOg8M2ck