Researchers from the University of Delaware played a role in finding part of a Navy warship blown off near the Aleutian Islands during World War Two.
The destroyer USS Abner Read presumably lost its stern to a Japanese mine while the vessel was conducting an anti-submarine patrol in the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Island of Kiska 75 years ago. 71 of her crew were killed in the blast, but those who survived were able to prevent the ship from sinking.
Kiska Island in the Aleutians is one of only two United States territories to be occupied by foreign forces in the last 200 years.
Mark Moline is director of the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware.
He’s part of a collaborative group who received a grant from NOAA to seek out the 75-foot section of the Abner Read lost to the sea.
“What we wanted to do was not only document it for history, but also bring this incident and the whole Aleutian campaign to light 75 years later to recognize the service of these individuals who lost their lives,” said Moline.
The crew used multi-beam sonar and autonomous underwater vehicles to locate the stern, which Moline says is not likely to be recovered.
“We found the area where it had ripped off the ship a little forward from the last deck gun, and it pretty much confirmed that was the back section of the Abner Read,” he said.
Moline adds the federal government will now conduct an inspection of the wreck. If any remains are found they will be taken to Dover Air Force Base for DNA analysis to potentially notify families of those who died on board.
Moline and his team are going to Italy next to search for World War Two wrecks in the Mediterranean Sea.