World War I memorial unveiled successful Washington, D.C.
On Dec. 17, 1917, the U.S. submarine USS F-1 was mislaid astatine oversea during a grooming mishap disconnected the seashore of California, sidesplitting 19 unit members connected board. Now, much than a period aft it sunk, scientists person announced they person captured unprecedented images of the last resting spot of the World War I-era sub much than 1,300 feet beneath the ocean's surface.
The high-definition pictures of the USS F-1 were released aft a radical of interagency teams utilized cutting-edge deep-sea imaging exertion during an expedition earlier this year, according to news release from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
USS F-1 collided with its sister ship, USS F-3, during exercises connected the oean's aboveground disconnected San Diego 8 days earlier Christmas successful 1917, according to the Submarine Force Library and Museum Association. USS F-1 sank successful conscionable 10 seconds, and lone 5 of the sub's 24 crewmen were rescued. The sub was mislaid for astir 60 years until it was located by a Navy heavy submersible conveyance that was retired looking for a pitchy combatant that crashed successful 1972, the relation said.
"It looked similar a large ax had deed her," said Lt. Dave Magyar, the aviator of the submersible that spotted the USS F-1, according to a paper story from 1976. But a close-up survey was not imaginable fixed the extent of the submarine.
Until now.
Photogrammetric reconstruction of the submarine USS F-1 connected the seafloor westbound of San Diego, Calif.
Image by Zoe Daheron, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
With assistance from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) and the National Science Foundation, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution squad dispatched a human-piloted submersible named Alvin arsenic good arsenic a distant underwater conveyance named Sentry to seizure the close-up images.
Using sonar systems connected Sentry and the probe vas Atlantis, the squad was capable to successfully behaviour meticulous surveys of the submarine.
"Once we identified the wreck and determined it was harmless to dive, we were capable to seizure never-before-seen perspectives of the sub," said WHOI's Bruce Strickrott, the elder aviator who helped pb the expedition. "As a U.S. Navy veteran, it was a profound grant to sojourn the wreck of the F-1 with our ONR and NHHC colleagues aboard Alvin."
During the expedition, the squad besides captured images of a U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed adjacent the aforesaid country successful 1950. Scientists released video and images of the aircraft, showing a severely damaged process and a bent beforehand propeller.
Wreckage of a WW II-era Avenger torpedo bomber that crashed successful the water disconnected the seashore of confederate California during a grooming flight.
Image courtesy of Anna Michel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; NSF GEO; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The squad conducted 7 full dives and the precocious sonar systems were capable to nutrient elaborate maps of the submarine wreck tract and surrounding seafloor. Scientists besides utilized high-resolution cameras to seizure close-up video of the wreck.
Specialists past utilized each the information to stitch unneurotic "photogrammetric models susceptible of providing precise measurements of the sub and the animals that person colonized its wreckage implicit the years." That allowed experts to reconstruct the F-1 submarine and nutrient stunning 3-D models of the wreck.
After the dives, the squad held a remembrance ceremonial connected committee Atlantis, ringing a doorbell 19 times — 1 for each unit subordinate mislaid astatine sea.
"History and archaeology are each astir radical and we felt it was important to work their names aloud," said underwater archaeologist Brad Krueger, who participated successful the dives. "The Navy has a solemn work to guarantee the legacies of its mislaid Sailors are remembered."
Stephen Smith is simply a managing exertion for CBSNews.com based successful New York. A Washington, D.C. native, Steve was antecedently an editorial shaper for the Washington Post, and has besides worked successful Los Angeles, Boston and Tokyo.
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