World War II shipwreck found after 80 years

According to Voice of America, a Japanese transport ship that sank during WWII with over 1,000 people on board has finally been discovered.

The Japanese ship, the Montevideo Maru, was carrying 850 prisoners of war and about 200 civilians when it was sunk in Papua New Guinea in 1942. The USS Sturgeon, an American submarine, torpedoed the ship without knowing who was on board. The sinking was initially celebrated as a success by Allied forces before the identities of the majority of those onboard were revealed.

The wreck was discovered earlier this week in the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines.

The mission was a collaboration between the Australian Defence Department, marine archaeologists from the Silentworld Foundation in Australia, and experts from the Dutch deep-sea survey company Fugro.

The search for the missing person began earlier this month off the coast of the Philippines. Before the identity of the vessel was officially confirmed, a positive sighting of the Montevideo Maru was made within two weeks. It was the result of years of research and planning by the search team.
The disaster killed nearly 1,000 Australians, according to VoA.

The wreck was discovered during a mission organised by the Silentworld Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to maritime archaeology and history, and Fugro, with funding from Australia’s Department of Defence.

More than a dozen countries were affected by the disaster. There were victims from Denmark, New Zealand, the United States, and Japan, among others. According to VoA, no items or human remains will be removed from the Montevideo Maru.

Reacting to the new discovery, Richard Marles Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, tweeted, “For more than 80 years, hundreds of Australian families have waited for news of the Montevideo Maru. This week, thanks to an extraordinary search effort, the ship’s final resting place has been discovered.”

“The 850 Australian service members on board were never forgotten. We will remember them,” he added.