‘Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ wreck found off coast of California eight decades after it sank

The USS Stewart was deliberately sunk on May 24 1946

Image taken of the stern of USS Stewart underwater using ‘state-of-the-art’ marine technology (Ocean Infinity )

The wreckage of a Second World War US Navy destroyer known as the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific” has been discovered off the coast of California almost eight decades after it sank.

Ocean explorers found USS Stewart 3,500 feet below the water’s surface within the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary on August 1, according to a news release from the search team including Ocean Infinity, the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, Search, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, and the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC).

Built in Philadelphia in September 1919, the ship was completed too late to be used in the First World War – but went on to see action in the Second World War under both American and Japanese flags.

In 1941, it was stationed in Manilla with the US Navy’s Asiatic Fleet. Then, the following year it was damaged during combat and, thanks to a freak accident, had to be abandoned by its crew off the coast of Java.

There, the warship was seized and repaired by the Imperial Japanese Navy, beginning service under a new name: Patrol Boat No 102.

Allies often reported seeing an old US Navy ship in enemy hands, earning it the nickname the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific”.

Photo shows sailors watching as the USS Stewart was sunk on May 24 1946 (US Navy/National Archives)

Then, when the war ended, the warship was found afloat in Kure, Japan, and was recommissioned back into the US Navy.

In a post-war era naval exercise, USS Stewart was deliberately sunk on May 24 1946 near San Francisco.

For the next 78 years, that’s where it stayed hidden – languishing somewhere beneath the water’s surface.

Then, this summer, the search teams finally tracked it down and captured never-before-seen images.

Picture shows a multibeam image of USS Stewart’s stern (Ocean Infinity/the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation/SEARCH/NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries/the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC))

During the expedition, the search team deployed three autonomous underwater vehicles to search for the wreckage deep below the surface.

Sonar technology scanned the seabed for 24 hours and found the “largely intact” wreckage with a “sleek and imposing” hull resting almost upright on the seafloor.

“This level of preservation is exceptional for a vessel of its age and makes it potentially one of the best-preserved examples of a US Navy ‘fourstacker’ destroyer known to exist,” the organizations said in a statement.

USS Stewart pictured on May 24 1946 as it was deliberately sunk (US Navy/National Archives)

Rear Admiral Samuel Cox USN (Ret), the director of Naval History and Heritage Command, said in a statement: “The US Navy greatly appreciates the professionalism of the team that located the wreck of the USS Stewart.

“Whether lost in battle or sunk as a target, a warship remains sovereign property in perpetuity.”