Never-Before-Seen Images Of The Underwater Wreckage From The Battle of Midway
Throughout the summer of 1942, as the horror of World War II rumbled on, Imperial Japan knew it needed to destroy the United States’ power in the Pacific Ocean. To do that, it would need to take control of the strategically important Midway Atoll. Sitting equidistant from Asia and North America, this small, isolated area ultimately came to host one of the most devastating naval battles in history. Many lives were lost as ships were destroyed — condemned to the bottom of the sea, where their wrecks remain to this day. The watery depths around Midway are now something of a ship graveyard, and a new underwater survey has given us a chilling glimpse into what that actually looks like.
A special area beneath the waves
Across five days in September 2023, a crew from the Ocean Exploration Trust ran this remarkable operation from aboard the EV Nautilus. They sailed to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which is the largest conservation area in the world to officially enjoy U.S. protection.
This special conservation area happens to be where the victims of the Battle of Midway sank to their watery graves. It’s here where the crew of explorers would have to get to work.
A real milestone
No project of this kind had ever been attempted in this area before. So, if the experts managed to pull off what they were attempting, it would constitute a notable achievement. Nobody had ever laid eyes on these historically significant ships since they were lost all those decades ago.
Vessels from both sides of the battle sank at Midway, and, as it happens, both Japanese and American ships were discovered throughout the course of the survey. It was an incredible feat.
Honoring the dead
In practical terms, the aims of this survey project were to pinpoint the location the lost ships of Midway and to check out what sort of condition they were now in. But beyond that, there was another objective: one that was almost more spiritual than anything else.
According to the Ocean Exploration Trust team itself, an important part of their mission was to honor the lives that had been lost during the Battle of Midway. There had been, sadly, a great number of casualties on both sides.
Unprecedented depths
From a technical point of view, the survey wasn’t an easy task to complete. After all, the depths at which the sunken ships now sit are barely comprehensible. In order to catch a glimpse of them, the team had to send a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to a tremendous depth beneath the Nautilus.
There were three dives, with the ROV sinking to more than 16,500 feet below sea level. That was unprecedented: no other mission launched from the Nautilus had ever gone so deep.