The World War Two heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis has been found in the Pacific Ocean, 72 years after its sinking by a Japanese submarine.
The warship was discovered 18,000 feet (5.5km) beneath the surface.
The Indianapolis was destroyed returning from its secret mission to deliver parts for the atomic bomb which was later used on Hiroshima.
Of the 1,196 men on board, just 316 were rescued – the largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy.
The USS Indianapolis was destroyed on 30 July 1945 when, somewhere in the Philippine sea between Guam and Leyte, it was hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine.
Between 800-900 escaped the sinking ship. But no distress call was ever received, and by the time the survivors were found by chance four days later, just 316 were left alive in the shark-infested waters.
The ship’s rapid sinking – in just 12 minutes – and the lack of a distress call meant the ship’s location had long been a mystery.
Allen’s crew discovered the vessel on 18 August, after new research from a naval historian pointed them to a specific region of the ocean where the warship had been sighted the night before its destruction.
The ship is well-known for its final, secret mission, carrying parts for the atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” as well as enriched uranium fuel for its nuclear reaction. Those supplies were delivered to Tinian Island, an American base in the final year of the war which launched the world’s first nuclear bombing.
