Deep sea explorers discover USS Wasp, another WWII aircraft carrier

CBS News ^ | 15 Mar 2019 | Mark Philips

[GreyFriar]

Deep sea explorers found the USS Hornet in the South Pacific earlier this year, but the Hornet was not the only ship located on that expedition. In the latest update for the American Naval history books, the research vessel Petrel revealed it also found the World War II aircraft carrier USS Wasp.

We're 2.5 miles down, peering inside the cockpit of an avenger torpedo bomber from the sunken World War II aircraft carrier, USS Wasp. The plane is not just a relic, it's a clue, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. Can the Wasp itself be far away?

The Wasp was part of the ferocious 1942 air and sea battle for the strategic South Pacific island of Guadalcanal. Jim Forrester, 98 years old now, was 21 on the Wasp that day.

"All of a sudden we got hit with torpedoes," Forrester recounted. "Imagine yourself lifted right up out of your chair right now."

One of the torpedoes had hit the fuel tanks, and the ship was an inferno. One-hundred-seventy-six of her crew were dead – the rest were ordered to abandon ship.

"I grabbed my nose and the family jewels and—" Forrester started.

"And jumped into the Pacific?" Philips asked.

"Yes," Forrester said.

The Wasp had been lost for almost 77 years. But the deep water research vessel, Petrel, combed the Pacific looking for long-lost war wrecks. In January, CBS News watched mission leader, Rob Kraft, and his crew find another carrier, the USS Hornet.

[GreyFriar]

Microsoft founder Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc./Navigea Ltd, R/V Petrel, has released video of its locating the wreck of the USS Wasp in the Coral Sea. They found the Wasp shortly after the found the USS Hornet. Be sure to watch Mark Philips' interview with a survivor of the Wasp.

[GreyFriar]

I also recommend reading this report about the finding of the USS Wasp that is on the Fox News website: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/wreck-of-wwii-aircraft-carrier-uss-wasp-discovered-in-the-coral-sea

[joma89]

This should act as a reminder to all of what “total war” is like.

JoMa

[central_va]

I-19 conducted the most ‘successful’ torpedo attack in the history of naval warfare on that terrible day.

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[immadashell]

Remarkable what money can do.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Well, from the point of view of the Imperial Japanese Navy, it was successful. Sunk a Carrier and a Destroyer and mission killed a Battleship putting it out of action for months.

[GreyFriar]

In this case I applaud the late Paul Allen in using part of his money to found & fund this research group.

[central_va]

The 'perp':

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for posting the photo of the I-19.

[LonePalm]

I-19 conducted the most ‘successful’ torpedo attack in the history of naval warfare on that terrible day.

I don't know about that. I-19 needed 3 torpedoes to sink Wasp.

On 19 June 1944, IJN Taihō was sunk by USS Albacore (SS-218) with a single torpedo.

WWG1WGA

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[central_va]

On September 15, 1942, while patrolling south of the Solomon Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign under the command of Commander Narahara Shogo,[2] I-19 sighted and attacked the U.S. carrier Wasp, firing six torpedoes. Three of the torpedoes hit the Wasp, causing heavy damage. With power knocked out due to damage from the torpedo explosions, Wasp’s damage-control teams were unable to contain the ensuing fires. She was abandoned and scuttled.

The remaining three torpedoes from the same spread (torpedo salvo), often incorrectly attributed to a second Japanese submarine, hit the U.S. battleship North Carolina and the destroyer O'Brien, the latter of which later sank en route for repairs on October 19, 1942. Significant damage had been sustained by North Carolina, which underwent repairs at Pearl Harbor until November 16, 1942.

This single torpedo salvo thus sank an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, and severely damaged a battleship, making it one of the most damaging torpedo salvos in history.[3]

[dainbramaged]

The light cruiser Juneau was also torpedoed and sunk at Guadalcanal, with the loss of 687 men including the five Sullivan brothers. She was located in March of 2018 by Paul Allen’s vessel as well.

[surrey]

My uncle was on the Wasp in 1945 when it was hit by a typhoon. He was 18 years old and came home paralyzed from the waist down. He was struck by a beam. He spent a long time in the naval hospital, in Brooklyn, where he met his wife who happened to be his nurse. She was from Boston and did her nursing studies in Quincy where she actually watched the Wasp being built at the Fore River Shipyard. I don’t think he ever missed a Wasp reunion and his love for the Navy lasted his entire life.

[LonePalm]

All right. You win. I had forgotten about the O'Brien.

WWG1WGA

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[buckalfa]

"This should act as a reminder to all of what “total war” is like. "

Sad, but I think the reaction of the American public to the loss of a carrier today would make the French cheese eating surrender monkeys look like warmongers.

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for your post about your uncle. Here is about the USS Wasp (CV-18) that he was on, it was the namesake of the Wasp (CV-7) sunk in 1942.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Wasp_(CV-18)

[SunkenCiv]

Thx.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks GreyFriar. I misunderstood, thought you'd posted an additional link in the earlier topic.

• The Epic Hunt for a Lost World War II Aircraft Carrier

  

[GreyFriar]

SunkenCiv,

It is the same USS Wasp, CV-7, but new/additional stories. Somehow I missed/forgot about the early story Coronel posted.