DALLAS, TEXAS—The Associated Press reports that the wreckage of the USS Samuel B Roberts has been discovered under 23,000 feet of water off the coast of the Philippines by Caladan Oceanic, an undersea technology company. The destroyer escort, which carried a crew of 224, sank on October 25, 1944, in a fight with Japan’s navy during the Battle of Leyte. Eighty-nine sailors from the Samuel B. Roberts were lost, many from wounds and shark attacks while waiting to be rescued. Three other American ships also sank on that day, including the USS Gambier Bay and the USS Johnston, which was discovered last year under 21,000 feet of water by the same team of explorers. A lack of reliable data on a possible location has prevented a search for the last of the four ships, the USS Hoel. To read more about underwater discoveries of sunken World War II vessels, go to “Wrecks of the Pacific Theater.”
