RV ''Petrel'', or R/V ''Petrel'' (IMO: 9268629, MMSI: 235102789), is a
research vessel
A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
owned by the estate of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
co-founder
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...
. The ship is named after the sea bird
petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes.
Description
The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group (all except the albatross f ...
. In 2016, Allen purchased the offshore service vessel formerly named ''Seven Petrel'' from Subsea 7, a subsea engineering, construction, and services company. In 2017, the ship completed an extensive retrofitting to become a deep-submergence research vessel. It is the only privately owned vessel in the world equipped to explore depths. It also serves as a testing bed for new deep-sea equipment that has never been deployed on any other ship.
Philanthropy
The primary mission of the ship, which is fully funded by Allen's estate, is to explore historically significant wrecks at challenging depths and conditions. A precondition set by Allen is for discovered wrecks to be respected as
war grave
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations.
Definition
The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...
s and their locations kept secret, but known to only national governments and museums. In the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary ''USS ''Indianapolis'' Live from the Deep'', Allen said, "We've done a number of these explorations to try to find sunken warships. We try to do these both as really exciting examples of underwater archaeology and as tributes to the brave men
howent down on these ships."
''Petrel'', while at dock, sometimes conducts walking tours and serves as an educational platform for students and children. ''Petrel''s other mission profile includes hosting scientific projects under Allen's mother company,
Vulcan Inc.
Vulcan LLC is a privately held company founded by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his sister Jody Allen in 1986 to establish and oversee the family's diverse business activities and philanthropic endeavors. It includes Vulcan Real Estate ...
Collaborative work
RV ''Petrel'' coordinates all its exploration with different organizations around the world. For
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
wrecks, ''Petrel'' collaborates with the
Naval History and Heritage Command
The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard. ...
. In the Philippines, the crew works with the National Museum and the Battle of Surigao Strait Memorial Council. In 2018, ''Petrel'' worked with
Australian National Maritime Museum
The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a Australian government, federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a nation ...
to explore . Robert Kraft, who serves as subsea director for Allen, and Paul Mayer, ''Petrel''s lead researcher, traveled to Japan to hand over
ROV video of
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
wrecks to the
Yamato Museum
The is the nickname of the in Kure, Hiroshima, Japan.
History
The museum opened on April 23, 2005. It is nicknamed the Yamato Museum due to the display in the lobby of a 1/10 scale model of the battleship ''Yamato'', the flagship of the ...
.
Crew
Before ''Petrel'', the project crew was aboard Allen's operating the
megayacht
A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from to ...
's manned-submersible ''Pagoo'', Argus 3000
remotely operated vehicle
A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''.
Definition
This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...
(ROV) and Bluefin 12D
autonomous underwater vehicle
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes ...
(AUV).
The 20 marine crew and 10 project crew work on 12-hour shifts aboard ''Petrel''. The project crew consists of Kraft the expedition leader, Mayer as lead researcher, four ROV pilots and technicians, one AUV specialist, one multibeam surveyor, one videographer, and one systems support engineer.
For each expedition, ''Petrel'' invites local historians, scientists, and observers to complement the project crew.
Crew expeditions in 2015 aboard ''Octopus''
Ironbottom Sound expedition
The team, while onboard ''Octopus'', mapped of
Ironbottom Sound
"Ironbottom Sound" (alternatively Iron Bottom Sound or Ironbottomed Sound or Iron Bottom Bay) is the name given by Allied sailors to the stretch of water at the southern end of The Slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island of t ...
in January 2015, identified 29 wreck locations, seven wreck debris fields, and several possible plane locations. Of the 29 wrecks located, six were positively identified and confirmed to be the heavy cruisers , , , , and , and the light cruiser . Eleven wrecks were "tentatively" identified to be the Japanese destroyers , and , and the American destroyers , , , , , , , and . The identification using the sonar imagery with vessel measurements and historical records is pending confirmation by ROV exploration. The remaining 12 wreck locations were not identified during the expedition and require further study.
''Musashi''
After several years of searching, the same team discovered the in March 2015. This discovery made news headlines around the world.
HMS ''Hood'' bell recovery
In August 2015, the team recovered the bell of after obtaining license from the
UK Ministry of Defense. The recovery of the bell was performed upon the request of the HMS ''Hood'' Association. Only three of HMS ''Hood''s crew survived and it was the wish of one of them to recover ship's bell as a memorial to shipmates. The bell from HMS ''Hood'' was unveiled by the
Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a substantive title, style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a United Kingdom, British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of th ...
on 24 May 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's largest loss of life (1,415 sailors) from a single vessel.
Malta wreck mapping
![Bluefin 12 AUV mapping of seabed around Malta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Bluefin_12_AUV_mapping_of_seabed_around_Malta.jpg)
While onboard ''Octopus'', the project crew deployed a
Bluefin 12D AUV and mapped of seabed around
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
in September 2015. Sonar images of shipwrecks, several aircraft,
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es, and debris field were captured by the AUV.
Ship details
Following the ''Musashi'' discovery and the ''Hood'' expedition in 2015, Allen bought ''Petrel'' in 2016 to become a dedicated research and exploration platform. After a 2016–2017 retrofit, ''Petrel'' is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology and the latest systems integration to allow deep-sea search. The vessel now has a depth-capable ROV, an AUV, and a
multibeam echo-sounder. It also has
dynamic positioning
Dynamic positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters. Position reference sensors, combined with wind sensors, motion sensors and gyrocompass ...
capability that allows the vessel to stay in station for ROV operations.
Argus 6000 ROV
RV ''Petrel'' has an Argus 80 kW/107HP free-flying work-class ROV with a payload capability, and has these features: 750 kg horizontal thrust; station-hold facility; sonar feature-based navigation mode; various manipulator configurations from two Schilling T4s; one Schilling Orion 7P; one Rigmaster 5 function; zip pump; sticky feet; jaws of life; and a 38-mm Webtool with intensifier. She is tethered with an armored 17-mm-thick cable. Recently, the ROV was mounted with an R2Sonic
MBES.
Remus 6000 AUV
The
Remus 6000 AUV is in diameter AUV, capable of speeds up to , and has a mission duration up to 22 hours. It is rated to dive down to 6,000 m, normally flies above the seabed, scans on each side, and can map from during each deployment. It is the only privately owned REMUS 6000 AUV in the world.
Multibeam echosounder
The echosounder (MBES) package aboard RV ''Petrel'' consists of one Kongsberg EM710 hull-mounted multibeam system, one Kongsberg EA600 hull-mounted singlebeam system, one ROV-mounted BlueView M450 2D multibeam imaging sonar, and one EdgeTech 2205 AUV-mounted sidescan array (75/230 kHz with interometric bathymetry). A R2Sonic MBES was recently added to ''Petrel''s ROV.
DP2 Class
RV ''Petrel''s electric motors enable it to hold station over a wreck. She has four DGPS, one HiPAP 502, one HiPAP 102, two SeaPath 200, two Standard Gyro, and one fanbeam. She is classified as a Dynamic Positioning Vessel 2.
Power and propulsion
The ship has four Mitsubishi S16R-MPTK
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s, totaling and driving four ABB AMG 500M4 auxiliary electric generators, generating . These, in turn, power the five thrusters - two aft fixed azimuths at each, one forward retractable azimuth at , and two forward fixed tunnels at 1,000 kW each.
''Petrel'' expeditions in 2017
''Artigliere''
''Petrel'' found the Italian Regia Marina
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
destroyer in March 2017.
USS ''Indianapolis''
''Petrel'' found in August 2017. One of the most elusive shipwrecks in history, ''Indianapolis'' was finally located on 19 August 2017 at a depth of in the Philippine Sea. The discovery became headline news around the world and introduced ''Petrel'' as Paul Allen's newest addition to his expedition fleet. Kraft said of the elusive ''Indianapolis'', "We did 18 search grids, each one is about a 120 square kilometers and that took us the course of a couple of months. It was about 26 days of searching."
The ''Indianapolis'' wreck is upright with her hull and armaments intact and well preserved in the depth. Her bow number 35 was seen by the ROV.
Rusticle
A rusticle is a formation of rust similar to an icicle or stalactite in appearance that occurs deep underwater when wrought iron oxidizes. They may be familiar from underwater photographs of shipwrecks, such as the RMS ''Titanic'' and the Ge ...
s or oxidized wrought iron were found by the crew emerging from one of the main guns of the ship.
Surigao Strait
After discovering USS ''Indianapolis'', ''Petrel'' sailed to
Surigao City
Surigao City, officially the City of Surigao ( Surigaonon: ''Siyudad nan Surigao''; ceb, Dakbayan sa Surigao; fil, Lungsod ng Surigao), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Surigao del Norte, Philippines. According to ...
in October 2017 to participate in the 73rd commemoration of the
Battle of Surigao Strait
The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...
. In November 2017, after getting the nod from the Philippines' National Museum, ''Petrel'' surveyed
Surigao Strait and discovered the wrecks of the Japanese battleships , , and the destroyers , , and . Each one was investigated by the ship's ROV and an onboard local historian confirmed the identity of the wreck.
Ormoc Bay and USS ''Ward''
In December 2017, ''Petrel'' explored
Ormoc
Ormoc (IPA: oɾˈmok, officially the City of Ormoc ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Ormoc; war, Syudad han Ormoc; fil, Lungsod ng Ormoc), is a 1st class independent component city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 ce ...
Bay and discovered the wrecks of the American destroyers , , the , and what is believed to be two s. The discovery of the wreck of USS ''Ward'' was a central theme for the 76th commemoration of the
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
on 7 December.
''Petrel'' expeditions in 2018
Return to Ormoc Bay
In early January 2018, ''Petrel'' returned to Ormoc Bay and dived one of the ''Yūgumo''-class destroyers found in 2017. Based on the guns and armament configuration, she was identified to be . The identification also validated the final resting places of the other ships of the lost Japanese convoy TA-4: the destroyers , and . The convoy was attacked by aircraft from
Task Force 38
The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task ...
in the
Battle of Ormoc Bay
The Battle of Ormoc Bay was a series of air-sea battles between Imperial Japan and the United States in the Camotes Sea in the Philippines from 9 November-21 December 1944, at Ormoc, part of the Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World ...
. ''Petrel'' and ''Octopus'' also dove their manned submersible ''Pagoo'' on USS ''Cooper.''
C-2A Greyhound in the Philippine Sea
In February 2018, ''Petrel'', with a US Navy team aboard, located and mapped the wreckage of a
Grumman C-2 Greyhound
The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft designed to carry supplies, mail, and passengers to and from aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. Its primary mission is carrier onboard delivery (COD). The aircraft p ...
aircraft that crashed into the
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
en route to on 22 November 2017.
USS ''Lexington'' in the Coral Sea
On 4 March 2018, ''Petrel'' explored the
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...
and discovered the wreck of the aircraft carrier , which sank during the
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...
.
USS ''Juneau''
On 17 March 2018, ''Petrel'' located the wreck of the antiaircraft light cruiser . ''Juneau'' was sunk by the in the aftermath of the first
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...
, sinking with the loss of 687 men, which included the five
Sullivan brothers
The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent who, serving together on the light cruiser , were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942.
The five brothers, t ...
.
USS ''Helena''
On 11 April 2018, ''Petrel'' located the wreck of the light cruiser . ''Helena'' was sunk during the
Battle of Kula Gulf
The naval Battle of Kula Gulf (Japanese: クラ湾夜戦) took place in the early hours of 6 July 1943 during World War II. The battle involved United States and Japanese ships off the eastern coast of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. It took ...
in 1943 by three torpedoes fired from a Japanese destroyer with a loss of 168 of her crew.
HMAS ''AE1''
The
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
's submarine , which was lost at sea with all hands on 14 September 1914, and only discovered in December 2017 on the seafloor off the
Duke of York Islands
The Duke of York Islands (formerly german: link=no, Neulauenburg) are a group of islands located in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. They are found in StGeorge's Channel between New Britain and New Ireland islands and form part o ...
in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
(PNG), was visited by ''Petrel''s ROV. ''Petrel''s crew devised a close-up camera to view details inside the torpedo tube and engine telegraph. This exploration published on 23 April 2018, was supervised by Find AE1 Ltd in partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Royal Australian Navy,
Curtin University
Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...
, the
Western Australian Museum
The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''.
The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-ope ...
, and the Submarine Institute of Australia. The approval for the survey was granted by
Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery
The Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery (NMAG) is a museum and art gallery in Waigani, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It is the national museum of Papua New Guinea.
History
In 1889 the British governor of Papua New Guinea, William ...
.
''Petrel'' expeditions in 2019
''Niizuki''
''Petrel'' found the wreck of the upright in of water in January 2019. While the wreck was heavily damaged, her mast is still attached and complete. The find of ''Niizuki'' was noteworthy because she was credited for sinking with the longest torpedo shot ever, with estimates ranging from . ''Niizuki''s discovery is also noteworthy as the photos of the wreck are the first photos of the ship to exist; no photos of her in service are known to have been taken.
''Jintsū''
In February 2019, the 's wreckage was discovered by ''Petrel'' near the mouth of Kula Gulf in the Solomon Islands. The broken cruiser rests in of water. Her bow section is lying on its port side and the stern section is upright.
''Hiei''
On 6 February 2019, the discovery of the was announced, the first Japanese battleship sunk in World War II. According to ''Petrel'', ''Hiei'' now lies upside down in of water northwest of
Savo Island
Savo Island is an island in Solomon Islands in the southwest South Pacific ocean. Administratively, Savo Island is a part of the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. It is about from the capital Honiara. The principal village is Alialia, ...
in the Solomon Islands. ''Hiei'' is the fourth Japanese battleship found by ''Petrel''s crew. The was found in March 2015, and the s and were found in November 2017. ''Petrel'' was also able to survey another , , in a separate mission. Lead researcher Paul Mayer said that ''Hiei'' lies away from ''Kirishima''.
USS ''Hornet''
On 12 February 2019, the crew announced they had located the wreck of the aircraft carrier at a depth of more than off the Solomon Islands. She is in remarkably good condition. She sits right-side up with her island still in place. A portion of her flight deck has collapsed due to the fire that raged on her decks during the battle. A portion of her stern is torn away, but the hull remains mostly intact. Several aircraft are scattered among the wreck.
USS ''Strong''
On 26 February 2019, the crew announced they had located the wreck of the destroyer , resting at a depth of . She rests in pieces, the largest of which is the heavily damaged forward section of the ship laying on its port side. The rest of the ship was largely fragmented by the detonation of her depth charges and lies in a compact debris field that includes the ship's boilers, propellers, and wheelhouse.
USS ''Wasp''
On 13 March 2019, the crew announced they had located the wreck of the aircraft carrier, resting at a depth of . The ship sits upright, though appears to have broken in two places, just forward and just aft of the island, apparently on impact with the seabed. The island itself is still in place, though the funnel structure was ripped off during the sinking. Several aircraft were also found in the debris field, including Dauntlesses and Avengers.
''Furutaka''
On 4 May 2019, the crew announced they had located the wreck of the Japanese heavy cruiser at a depth of . She lies in two sections, with the bow sitting near the main part of the wreck, which is upright and the bridge is about away.
''Maya''
On 1 July 2019, it was announced that the wreck of the had been found off the coast of the Philippine island of
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
. She is mostly intact, with the exception of her forward bow, which broke off and is lying upside down just astern of the rest of the ship. Her bridge and guns are also intact. She lies in of water.
''Mogami''
On 9 September 2019, it was announced that the wreck of the had been found in the
Bohol Sea
The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is a sea located between the Visayas and Mindanao islands in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao. Siquijor and Camiguin are its two major islands.
The major citi ...
. She lies mostly intact, with the exception of her forward bow, which has been blown off, but lying nearby. She sits straight side up at a depth of .
USS ''St. Lo''
On 10 October 2019, it was announced that the wreck of the
escort carrier
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
, , the first ship to have been sunk by a ''
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'', had been discovered on 25 May. She lies at a depth of on the edge of the
Philippine Trench
The Philippine Trench (also Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has a ...
off the coast of
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
. She sits upright relatively intact, with notable battle damage. She is the first escort carrier to have been found.
''Kaga''
On 18 October 2019, ''Petrel'' announced they had discovered the wreck of the , off the coast of
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...
. She lies straight side up, but with heavy battle damage, below the surface. She is the first Japanese aircraft carrier to have been found.
''Akagi''
On 20 October 2019, the director of undersea operations Rob Kraft and Naval History and Heritage Command historian Frank Thompson aboard ''Petrel'' identified the wreck of the using high-frequency sonar. Located north west of
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, Hawaii, ''Akagi'' was found at a depth of . It is reported that the wreck is upright, on its keel and is largely intact. Due to damage sustained by the ROV during recovery from the preceding survey of ''Kaga'', and a number of other factors, ''Petrel'' was unable to conduct a photographic survey of ''Akagi''.
''Chōkai''
On 26 October 2019, the search team announced they had discovered, on 5 May earlier in the year, the wreck of the on the edge of the
Philippine Deep. She lies upright with her bow section torn off, deep.
USS ''Johnston''
On 30 October 2019, it was announced that the wreckage of a destroyer believed to be was located. It is believed to be the deepest ever located shipwreck at deep.
Her identity was confirmed on 31 March 2021, when the submersible DSV ''Limiting Factor'' of Caladan Oceanic surveyed and photographed the deeper main wreck. The visible hull number, 557, confirmed the identity of the ship as ''Johnston''. She sits upright and well-preserved at a depth of , making it the deepest shipwreck ever surveyed.
MV ''Doña Paz'' and MT ''Vector''
On 19 December 2019, it was announced that ''Petrel'' had located and surveyed the wrecks of the Philippine ferry, and the oil tanker . Both wrecks were found apart at a depth of in the
Sibuyan Sea
The Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines that separates the Visayas from the northern Philippine island of Luzon.
It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque a ...
. Both wrecks sit straight side up and are in good condition.
University of Hawaii's lost ROV ''Luu'kai''
On 24 December 2019, news came out that ''Petrel'' and a team from University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology (UH-SOEST) located and successfully recovered the latter's lost ROV named ''Luu'kai'' north of
Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
at a depth of . The drone had broken its tether and was lost on the ocean floor on 20 July 2019. To retrieve ''Luu'kai'', the team lowered a lift elevator and ''Petrel''s ROV worked on the recovery procedure. ''Luu'kai'' was recovered by the joint team on 29 August 2019.
''Petrel'' expeditions in 2020
Deep Argo floats in the Atlantic Ocean
After finding ''Kaga'' and ''Akagi'', ''Petrel'' crossed the Pacific in the fourth quarter of 2019 and stationed in the Atlantic Ocean to launch Deep
Argo
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
floats beginning January 2020. Through several weeks in January 2020, in the Brazil Basin of the Atlantic, ''Petrel'' and
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA) deployed a number of standard Navis floats (2000-m profiles), and deep SOLO floats (6000-m profiles).
As part of the Deep
Argo
In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
project, a multiyear partnership between the NOAA
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) is a federal laboratory in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs). The PM ...
(NOAA PMEL) and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the project aimed for a final deployment of Deep Argo floats aboard ''Petrel''. Thousands of these floats are freely drifting around the globe to measure the temperature, salinity, and turbidity of the upper ocean, at depths down to and deeper to . The Foundation committed $4 million to NOAA to help implement the Deep Argo effort.
Full ocean multi-beam and sub bottom-profiler
In June 2020, ''Petrel'' had a Kongsberg EM124 1°x2° full ocean MBES installed. A sub-bottom profiler, a Kongsberg SBP 29 6° system, was also installed on the ship. Both were tested in the Atlantic Ocean, giving detailed bathymetry readings from depths.
Long-term moorage
On 11 June 2020, ''Petrel'' announced on its Facebook page that it was going to be moored indefinitely. The announcement read, "The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has changed the world for the long term in ways that we never could have imagined. As a result of operational challenges from the pandemic, R/V ''Petrel'' will be placed into long-term moorage and she will not be deployed for the foreseeable future. We were tasked with a monumental mission — discover, educate, and honor — and we’re hopeful we will eventually be back in service." Robert Kraft, subsea director, said, "I am proud of the successful'' Petrel'' missions that have brought information and closure to so many families and friends of WWII heroes. I am hopeful that ''Petrel'' will eventually be back in service, supporting the collection of ocean data and science."
After a
drydocking in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, ''Petrel'' sailed for
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
, Scotland, on 16 August 2020 and arrived on 3 September 2020. As of May 2022, she remains in port.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrel, RV
2002 ships
Research vessels of the United Kingdom
Ships built by Fincantieri
Ships built in Norway