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Underwater archaeological investigations have located the missing bow of the USS New Orleans in the Solomon Islands’ Iron Bottom Sound.
The US Navy cruiser was heavily damaged during the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942 when it was hit by a Japanese torpedo, which detonated the forward magazines, causing a dramatic explosion that tore off nearly a third of the ship, including some 46m of the bow. More than 180 crew members were killed.
The vessel was saved from sinking by the heroic efforts of the ship’s damage control officer and two of his men, all three of whom subsequently died from asphyxiation and were awarded posthumous Navy Crosses. Thanks to their sacrifice, the USS New Orleans was able to reach the nearby Tulagi Harbour, where a makeshift bow was created out of coconut logs, stabilising the ship sufficiently for it to sail (stern-first) to Australia for further repairs.
Now researchers from the Ocean Exploration Trust and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have located the cruiser’s missing bow resting on the ocean floor, c.657m below the surface. The scientists were carrying out seafloor-mapping operations in the area and noted an anomaly that was too small to be a complete shipwreck, but large enough that it could still represent a partial wreck. They decided to send down a deep-diving, remotely operated vehicle to investigate and image the area. Experts from around the world viewed the imagery in real time via teleconferencing software and worked with the team onboard the research vessel to identify details of the ship’s structure, markings, and anchor, which confirmed that the wreck was the missing section of the USS New Orleans.
These archaeological investigations were non-invasive and there are currently no plans to recover the ship’s bow. In total, at least a dozen wrecks have been mapped to date by the research expedition in Iron Bottom Sound.
