Undersea investigators have situate the crash of a century - older US Navy destroyer , USS Stewart , that was lose for nearly 80 eld . The wreck , once know as “ The ghost ship of the Pacific ” , was found off the coast of northerly California 1,067 cadence ( 3,500 foot ) below the water ’s Earth’s surface .

USSStewartwas found within the bounds of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary by an extensive collaborative expedition between Ocean Infinity , the Air / Sea Heritage Foundation , SEARCH , NOAA ’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries , and the Naval History and Heritage Command ( NHHC ) .

The delegacy to observe the sunken vessel involve institutionalize autonomous submersed drone develop by Ocean Infinity to conduct an extensive and methodical scan of the seafloor that take 24 hour to nail . Once the data was call back , it showed the incredible ikon of the sunken ship lie upright on the seafloor .

The image shows the multibeam scan of the ship resting on the sea floor. The image shows the seafloor in greens that become yellow and then red as the elevation rises. The ship sits in the middle of a large green patch and appears in one piece.

A multibeam scan of USS Stewart resting on the seafloor.Image courtesy of Ocean Infinity.

TheStewartwas built in Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , in September 1919 and commission in September 1920 . Although it was too tardy to take part in World War I , the vessel saw frontline action during World War II . In 1941 , when theStewartwas station in Manila as part of the Asiatic Fleet tasked with opposing Imperial Japan ’s advance .

Then , in 1942 , cataclysm struck as the vessel was damaged during scrap and a lusus naturae chance event trap it in a stamping ground drydock in Java . The crew was forced to abandon theStewartas Nipponese power prepared to take the island – but this was not the ending of the ship ’s story .

Raised and animate , the watercraft was pressed into service by the Imperial Japanese Navy asPatrol Boat No . 102and was take in by Allied pilots operating well beyond foe lines .

The photo shows a high resolution image of the ship’s bow covered in ocean life. It’s surface is green with growth and there are large blobs of coral and other life sticking out of its sides. At the front of the bow, two crabs are seen crawling into view.

The USS Stewart has become a habitat for various ocean life since it sank. Despite this, the vessel is remarkably well preserved.Image courtesy of Ocean Infinity.

Then , after the war ended , theStewartwas set up afloat in Kure , Japan , and returned to San Francisco by the US Navy . In what was describe as a last “ emotional ceremony ” in astatement , theStewartwas give a burial at ocean in 1946 when it was targeted and sunk by aeriform rocket , machinegun , and naval guns .

“ The whole history of that ship was actually exceptionally well document , ” Russ Matthews , Chief Executive of the Air / Sea Heritage Foundation , separate theNew YorkTimes . “ The only piece of that story we did n’t have is , what does it look like today ? ”

Levi spent years attempt to located the recessed vessel before he cooperate with Ocean Infinity . In April 2024 , Matthews had the co-ordinate for theStewart ’s last floating situation , and the theme of sending pilotless aircraft to scan the seafloor for its wreckage was propose .

A black and white photo showing the USS Stewart as it was sinking below the water. The ship has tipped towards the camera on its left side and there is a plume of smoke rising from near the bow.

The vessel was sunk by the US Navy of the coast of California in 1946 and has been lost ever since.Image courtesy of Donald M. McPherson/US Naval History and Heritage Command.

Scans channel by the subaquatic pilotless aircraft indicate that the ship is for the most part inviolate and still appear “ sleek and inflict ” . It has an “ exceptional ” degree of saving for its eld and may well be the easily - preserved exercise of a US Navy “ four stacker ” undoer known to exist .

After the initial discovery , the squad recorded an additional high - solvent sonar survey before launching a detailed ocular inspection of the site using a tv camera - fit out drone . The video feed was sent to the Earth’s surface via practical satellite data link where expert and stakeholders could see it resting in the depths .

When theStewartwas return to California , it was call “ RAMP-224 ” by sailors , which was a combination of the vessel ’s navy Isaac Hull routine and a slang term for returning captive ’s of state of war , “ recuperate Allied Military Personnel ” .

“ It ’s decipherable they thought of Stewart more like a shipmate than a ship , ” Matthews enunciate in the statement , “ and I get it on I speak for the entire expedition team when I say that we ’re all very quenched to have help oneself honor the bequest and memory of those vet once again . ”

“ The USS Stewart represents a unique opportunity to study a well - preserved example of former twentieth - century destroyer purpose . Its story , from US Navy servicing to Japanese capture and back again , form it a powerful symbol of the Pacific War ’s complexity , ” Dr James Delgado , now Senior Vice President of SEARCH , added .

This is not the first sunken vas Ocean Infinity has identified . In 2020 , they and SEARCH discovered theUSS Nevada . Then , in 2022 , Ocean Infinity helped find theEndurance , the legendary and fated ship that carried Captain Ernest Shackleton and his crew toward Antarctica in 1915 .

It seems these raw self-directed underwater trailer may well be show in a new era of sea find , so perhaps theStewartis just one of many more disoriented vessels that will soon be rediscovered .