Explorers locate ‘deepest wreck’ ever discovered

The investor and private explorer Victor Vescovo and his crew have located the remains of the navy destroyer escort USS Samuel B Roberts, claimed to be the deepest shipwreck ever discovered.

The US Navy confirmed the wreck site in a statement on Monday (25 June).

With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the “destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.” pic.twitter.com/VjNVERdTxh

— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022

Widely known as ‘Sammy B‘, the vessel was sunk off the Philippine coast in 1944, during the largest sea battle of the second world war, while taking on a larger Japanese fleet.

Vescovo, a retired naval officer and explorer, located the destroyer escort more than four miles beneath the surface in the Philippine Sea. It was identified on a slope and broken into two pieces, at a depth of 6,985 metres.

This depth is 427 metres more than the wreck of the USS Johnston, which was also discovered last year by Vescovo in the Philippine Sea, and was previously held to be the world’s deepest wreck.

Announcing the latest find together with UK-based Eyos Expeditions, Vescovo said: “With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 metres, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the ‘destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.”

“It was an extraordinary honour to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice.”

Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end. pic.twitter.com/fvi6uB0xUQ

— Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) June 24, 2022

USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) was the first ship named for Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr., who was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Commissioned on April 28, 1944, the destroyer escort was lost that same year during the Battle off Samar when it, along with several other U.S. warships, engaged Japanese forces off the Philippine coast and selflessly put itself in harm’s way to protect U.S. invasion forces in Leyte Gulf.

Of the crew, 89 died and 120 were saved, including the captain, Lt Cmdr Robert W Copeland.

“USS Samuel B. Roberts was lost in one of the most valiant actions in the history of the U.S. Navy,” says Samuel Cox, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command and a retired rear admiral. “The gallantry of her crew serves to inspire U.S. Navy personnel today, knowing they are entrusted with upholding the legacy and example of this ship and crew.”