Deep-sea researchers have located the previously lost wreckage of a Japanese ship that was sunk by a US submarine during World War II. “Found!” said the Australian organization involved in the search, the Silentworld Foundation, over the weekend. The “Montevideo Maru” was discovered at a depth of around 4,000 meters off the Philippine coast.
The story of the transport ship is a particularly tragic one: More than 1,000 people died, most of them Australians, when the Montevideo Maru was hit by torpedoes from the submarine USS Sturgeon on July 1, 1942. Among the victims were people from 14 nations. The crew of the submarine did not know that there were prisoners of war and civilians on the Japanese ship. It was not marked accordingly, wrote the New York Times.
The sinking of the “Montevideo Maru” is considered “the worst disaster in the history of Australian shipping,” said the Silentworld Foundation. On board were around 1,060 prisoners of war and civilians between the ages of 15 and 60 who had been captured by the Japanese a few months earlier when the city of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea fell. Around 980 Australians died in the sinking.
The search for the wreck began on April 6 in the South China Sea and it was discovered twelve days later. State-of-the-art technology was used, including an autonomous underwater vehicle with sonar, the organization said. The mission was led by Australian and Dutch archaeology, history and deep sea survey specialists and supported by the Australian Ministry of Defence.
