HONOLULU — Researchers have located the sunken USS Nevada near Hawaii, helping to close the final chapter of a historic battleship that served in both world wars and survived two nuclear explosion tests.
Maritime archaeologist James Delgado announced the discovery of the storied U.S. Navy ship about 75 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor on Oahu, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
“Nevada is an iconic ship that speaks to American resilience and stubbornness,” Delgado said Monday. “Rising from its watery grave after being sunk at Pearl Harbor, it survived torpedoes, bombs, shells and two atomic blasts.”
Underwater and terrestrial archaeology firm SEARCH Inc. and marine robotics company Ocean Infinity Inc. teamed to make the discovery in more than 15,400 feet of water.
The 583-foot ship commissioned during World War I was in service during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and lost crew members to the disease outbreak while docked in Ireland.
Nevada was the only ship to get underway during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, but was beached after being struck by a torpedo and bombs.
The ship, known by the hull classification number BB-36, was struck by a Japanese dive bomber off Okinawa in the waning days of World War II, a collision that killed 11 crew members.
After World War II the Nevada was assigned to be a target for atomic tests off Bikini Atoll in 1946 and survived two blasts from a nuclear air burst designated Able and an underwater test called Baker.
The ship was rendered unfit for continued service and transported to Pearl Harbor to be decommissioned.
The Navy sunk the ship during target practice off Oahu in July 1948 with a barrage of surface gunfire, aerial bombs, rockets, and torpedoes.