Missing 52 Project

Wreck hunters have discovered the remains of a famous American submarine that sank during a battle with a Japanese warship off the coast of the Philippines in 1944. The wreck of the USS Harder now lies at the bottom of the South China Sea, near the northern Philippine island of Luzon, at a depth of about 1,140 meters, according to the Lost 52 Project, a New York-based organization that made the discovery.

Navy reports on the submarine’s last mission say the Harder, a Gato-class submarine named after a species of fish, sank on Aug. 24, 1944, after being badly damaged by depth charges in a battle with a Japanese destroyer.

It was one of the most famous American submarines of World War II. US Navy documents report: sank five Japanese destroyers and several other enemy ships during six successful patrols In the Pacific battlefield.

It is one of the most famous submarines of the Second World War and a historic maritime discovery.
– wrote Tim Taylor, founder of the Lost 52 project.

Taylor is the CEO of Tiburon Subsea, a company that uses autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and other technologies to collect data in underwater areas. He also heads the Lost 52 project, which aims to find the wrecks of 52 US submarines lost at sea during World War II and four submarines lost during the Cold War.

According to Taylor, the group has already found the wrecks of eight ships, and the sunken “Harder” was their ninth discovery.

“We have a protocol that when we find a submarine, we honor the memory of its crew. We hold a moment of silence, ring a bell for each crew member, and pray led by a deacon who was part of our expedition team,” Taylor says.

How was the boat found?

The team located the sunken ship by reviewing reports from the last battle, then searched relevant areas using the ship’s sonar, which can detect objects on the seabed, and drones, which can dive much deeper than humans. But even after taking steps to make search models as efficient as possible, “it’s a long, difficult process, like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Photogrammetric model of the USS Harder wreckage site from The Lost 52. The project scanned the entire boat and combined the images into a multi-dimensional model used to examine and survey the wreck site / Photo: Tim Taylor and The Lost 52 Project

The great depth of the sunken submarine meant that a search using underwater drones was necessary, but relatively good weather in recent weeks has made the search easier.

Harder’s wreck is too deep for divers to reach. “This is the final resting place of sailors who gave their lives defending the country and should be respected as a war grave by all parties,” the Navy said in a statement. said.

Octopus in the control tower of the sunken American submarine USS Harder / Photo by Lost 52 Project

Photo taken from underwater drone / Lost 52 Project Photo

Taylor added that images from the underwater vehicle show: the ship is in good condition. The submarine is relatively undamaged other than damage caused by depth charges. After 80 years underwater, it appears to be a thriving home for marine life, including shrimp as well as the octopus Taylor saw in the pictures.