Search crews found the wreckage of USS Johnson, a World War II destroyer that was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf with 186 sailors on board, in water deeper than the area where the Titanic was found, making it the deepest wreckage ever identified.
The Johnson was one of seven ships lost in the battle, in which 200,000 sailors from the US, Australian and Japanese forces fought. The Japanese lost 22 ships, including a fleet carrier and 12,500 sailors, verus allied losses of 3,000 men.
The Johnson became dead in the water and then became the target of three Japanese destroyers who fired on the ship until it sank. The Johnson’s commander, Ernest Evans, is reportedly the first Native American in the US Navy to have received the Medal of Honor.
The wreckage will be catalogued and charted, but it will be left undisturbed because naval wreckage are considered sacred, similar to military cemeteries.