wreckage of which world war ii navy ship was recently discovered in the pacific?

“Based on geography, time of year and other factors, I work with Paul Allen to determine what missions to pursue. “ Lexington was on our priority list because she was one of the capital ships that was lost during WWII,” Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for the Petrel says in a statement. So far, besides locating the ship, the team has been able to find 11 of the 35 aircraft that were onboard when the carrier went under. Equipping the Petrel with exploration gear that could reach 3.5 miles under the sea, they began their search.

The team received coordinates for where experts thought the Lexington might have sunk. Lexington, one of the United States' first aircraft carriers, which was scuttled on May 8, 1942, to prevent its capture after the Battle of the Coral Sea, as the Associated Press reports.Įlaina Zachos at National Geographic reports that the Petrel crew had been planning to hunt for the Lexington, known affectionately as “Lady Lex,” for six months after successfully locating several historic wrecks including the Japanese battleship Musashi and the U.S.S.

About 500 miles off the coast of eastern Australia and two miles down they located the wreck of the U.S.S. Allen announced that his ship-hunting research vessel R/V Petrel and her crew had discovered an important piece of World War II history.

Wreckage of which world war ii navy ship was recently discovered in the pacific?