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wreck hunters have find the stiff of a famous American submarine that sank with 79 crew on board while fight down a Nipponese combat ship near the Philippines in 1944 .
According to the New York - base Lost 52 Project , which made the find , the crash of USS Harder now lie down on its keel on the bottom of the SouthChinaSea near the northerly Filipino island of Luzon at a depth of around 3,750 feet ( 1,140 measure ) .
An octopus on the “conning” or command tower of the wreck of the American submarine USS Harder, which sank near the Philippines in 1944 after a battle with a Japanese destroyer.
Naval reports of the sub ’s final foreign mission say the Harder — a Gato - class sub name after a type of fish ( the harder mullet ) and nicknamed the " Hit ' Em hard " — sank with all bunch on Aug. 24 , 1944 after it was heavily damaged by deepness charges in a conflict with a Nipponese waster .
The Harder was one of the most famous American bomber of World War II . U.S. Navy record book report that it torpedoed and settle five Japanese ruiner and several other foe ships during six successful patrol in the Pacific warfare dramatics .
" This is one of the most famed WWII submarines and an historical naval discovery,“Tim Taylor , the laminitis of the Lost 52 Project , told Live Science in an email .
USS Harder—known as the “Hit ‘Em Harder”—sank several enemy warships and was one of the most famous American submarines during World War II.(Image credit: Lost 52 Project)
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War grave
Taylor is the chief operating officer of a company call in Tiburon Subsea , which uses independent underwater vehicles ( AUVs ) and other technologies to collect data point at submersed sites . He also direct theLost 52 Project , which purport to site the wreck of the 52 American hero sandwich lose at sea during World War II andfour lost during the Cold War .
The group has already turn up the crash of eight vessel , making the shipwreck of USS Harder their ninth breakthrough , Taylor read . Each of the underwater wrecks is also a war tomb for the crewmembers who died when it sank , and the missing crew of the Harder were remember for their Robert William Service when the shipwreck was found .
" We have a communications protocol that , when we locate a submarine , we memorialize the crew , " Taylor said . " We observe a minute of secrecy , phone the buzzer for every phallus of the crew and have a supplication religious service led by a deacon who is part of our expedition team . "
The wreck lies upright on the seafloor at a depth of about 3,800 feet. It was found by studying reports of its final battle, and by searching suitable sites with sonar and autonomous underwater vehicles.(Image credit: Lost 52 Project)
The squad locate the crash by examine report card of its concluding conflict and then research suitable areas with shipboard sonar , which can reveal objects on the seafloor , and AUVs , which can go much bass than human divers .
But even after they take stride to make the search patterns as effective as potential , " It is a retentive and arduous process , like looking for a needle in a haystack , " Taylor said .
Sunken sub
The uttermost astuteness of the shipwreck mean that AUV searches were essential , although a catamenia of relatively expert weather in late calendar week made the search sluttish .
The Harder shipwreck is too cryptical to be shoot the breeze by diver , and the U.S. Navy has designated the wreck as a protected website . " The shipwreck represents the final resting spot of sailors that give their life-time in defence of the commonwealth and should be value by all parties as a state of war grave accent , " the Navy said ina statement .
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The “Lost 52 Project” that found the wreck aims to locate all 52 American submarines that went missing during World War II and four that sank during the Cold War.(Image credit: Lost 52 Project)
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Taylor added that the AUV range show that the vessel seems to be in good precondition . " The submarine is relatively entire , minus the damage done by the depth charges , " he pronounce .
USS Harder was one of the most celebrated American submarines of World War II. It sank several Japanese warships and received a Presidential Unit Citation.
And now , after 80 years under the waves , the crash seems to be a flourishing place for sea life , including an devilfish that Taylor saw in the AUV images .
" It is a protect gravesite for 79 US WWII skimmer , but there is a lot of animation on the Italian sandwich , " he aver . " It ’s quite extraordinary . "
