HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS—Ocean Exploration Trust announced that a team of scientists, explorers, and archaeologists located the severed bow of the USS New Orleans deep in the waters off Guadalcanal. In November 1942, during World War II’s Battle of Tassaforonga, the cruiser was struck by a Japanese torpedo, which tore off nearly one-third of the ship. Although the explosion killed 180 onboard, the remaining crew somehow kept the vessel afloat using coconut logs, and eventually guided it safely back to the United States for repairs. The detached and sunken part of the ship was first detected by the E/V Nautilus. A team of experts confirmed the wreckage’s identity as the New Orleans by examining details of its design, painting, and anchor. It lies on the seafloor amongst a veritable underwater graveyard of lost World War II ships and airplanes known as the Iron Bottom Sound. During the five-month-long Guadalcanal campaign, Allied Forces and the Empire of Japan lost over 20,000 lives, 111 naval vessels, and 1,450 planes. “To find the bow of this ship is an opportunity to remember the sacrifice of this valiant crew, even on one of the worst nights in U.S. Navy history,” said retired Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command. To read about the discovery of a U.S. aircraft carrier's wreckage near the Solomon Islands, go to "Understanding Hornet's Fate."
