The World’s Deepest Shipwreck Was Uncovered In The Philippines

Discovering shipwrecks isn’t unheard of, so why did it seem so unlikely that the Sammy B would ever be found? Well, that’s because of how deep it actually sank. It went down to a depth of over 22,600 feet, which amounts to a little more than 4 miles. No shipwreck had ever been discovered so deep before, so when a team of explorers actually dived down to see Sammy B, it was an unprecedented situation.

This operation was led by Victor Vescovo, a former commander in the Navy and the person behind a Dallas-based company called Caladan Oceanic, which specializes in marine technology. Vescovo is a seasoned deep-sea explorer, and he was responsible for finding the last ship to hold the record for being the world’s deepest shipwreck. That was the USS Johnston, which was found in the same general area as the Sammy B a year beforehand. Less than 1,000 feet separated the wrecks, and both of them were lost in the same battle.

Speaking in a statement about the discovery of the Sammy B, Vescovo expressed joy about what he and his colleagues had accomplished. He said, “It was an extraordinary honor to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so, have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice. In difficult times, it’s important to reflect on those who sacrificed so much, so willingly, in even more difficult times to ensure our freedoms and way of life... I always remain in awe of the extraordinary bravery of those who fought in this battle against truly overwhelming odds — and won.”

So, what is this “story of heroism” that Vescovo mentioned? What happened to the Sammy B? Well, its fate revolved around the Philippines, which both sides wanted to control in World War II’s Pacific theater. The Japanese had been occupying the islands since 1942 but the Allies were set on wrestling back control. They launched a 1944 invasion which prompted Japan to respond by dispatching an armada. The stage was set, then, for the biggest sea battle of the entire war.

On October 23 the Battle of Leyte Gulf began, concluding a few days later on October 26. It’s worth noting that, during this time, we saw the first use of Japanese kamikaze attacks, though that’s a story for another time. We can say that four specific engagements emerged that constituted the Battle of Leyte Gulf as a whole: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Cape Engaño, and the largest of them all, the Battle off Samar.

It was during the Battle off Samar when the Sammy B was lost. This ship had been commissioned only months beforehand, on April 28, 1944. It measured more than 300 feet in length and was equipped with a range of weapons. A defense writer named Kyle Mizokami went into detail about its armaments for a Popular Mechanics article. He wrote, “It was armed with two 5-inch guns, four 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, ten 20-millimeter anti-aircraft guns, three 21-inch torpedo tubes for surface attack, and three depth charge projectors for anti-submarine attack.”

The Battle off Samar is widely considered to have been the most central aspect of the wider Battle of Leyte Gulf. As the name implies, it took place off the coast of Samar Island, on October 25, 1944. The Americans, it’s now recognized, really weren’t ready to fight that day and were caught firmly off-guard, which had really dire consequences: the Sammy B wasn’t the only Allied ship lost during that grim engagement.

The day beforehand had gone pretty well for the Americans. The Japanese fleet had taken a lot of damage, and it seemed like they were retreating to the west. But then they did something the Americans failed to anticipate: the Japanese turned back and continued in the direction of the Leyte Gulf. On top of that, they dispatched a decoy fleet, which drew American ships in the wrong direction. That left those that had stayed around Leyte in a really exposed position.

The Sammy B was one of the ships left to deal with this bleak situation as the Japanese forces drew closer. The vessel was part of Task Group, 77.4.3, a collection of ships known by the radio call sign “Taffy 3.” This group’s intended role was to support Allied forces on land and to protect against enemy submarines, but it wasn’t set up to deal with a Japanese fleet like this one: things weren’t looking good.

Dawn broke, and the Americans spotted the fleet heading towards them. A pilot flying over the ocean saw the ships, initially presuming that they were Allied vessels. But he then came to suspect that they belonged to the enemy, and he informed the naval command. Admirable Clifton Sprague wasn’t convinced and ordered the pilot to look again. He did just that, reporting back, “I can see pagoda masts. I see the biggest meatball flag on the biggest battleship I ever saw!”

This battleship was the Yamato, the best-equipped fighting ship of its kind afloat at that time. And three other battleships were approaching, too, as well as a flotilla of other smaller vessels: it was a far stronger force than their opponents had at their disposal. Shortly after dawn the Japanese fired their weapons. The Americans fought back, and they did manage to inflict some damage. The USS Johnston and two other destroyers launched a torpedo assault which managed to destroy one of the Japanese ships.

The Japanese unleashed their kamikaze forces, which sank one vessel and damaged a few more. But the Americans were fighting hard, especially with their aircraft. This caused confusion among the Japanese command: the attacks from the air were so intense, they came to think that they must be engaging with a serious American force. So, having sunk one of the American ships and presuming reinforcements would soon arrive, the Japanese decided enough damage had been done and pulled back. But their initial objective — to strike at the enemy’s land forces — hadn’t been achieved.

By the time the battle had ended, a lot of damage had been inflicted, especially to Taffy 3. That group had lost a lot of ships during the battle, not to mention a number of aircraft. In total, more than 1,000 American lives were lost. This is a similar figure to the losses sustained during the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway combined. As for the Japanese, their estimated casualties were more than 2,700.

The crew aboard the Sammy B during the battle had known they were in big trouble. The ship’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland, had taken the decision to attack the enemy because he felt it was positioned well to do so — but he knew it was risky. He even told the sailors under his command, “This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”

Sure enough, the Sammy B began to soak up some heavy fire from the enemy. It was sprayed with powerful munitions, fired from weapons capable of destroying ships far larger than this one. The damage to the American vessel soon became quite intolerable. Power and communication systems shut down, an engine room was destroyed, and gaping holes in the ship’s side were opened up: many lives were lost.

By around 9:00 a.m. the Sammy B was taking so much damage that Copeland, who survived the ordeal, could feel the front end of the ship tilting skywards after taking a hit. He later recalled these last grueling moments on board. The ship, he said, “was simply shot to pieces the last 15 minutes she was in action.” And there was no respite from the Japanese. They just kept on firing at the increasingly impaired vessel.

Copeland sent subordinates to take a look around the vessel to assess how bad the damage was. The report that came back to him was not good: the ship simply couldn’t battle on. There were “dead and wounded men everywhere,” as the commander himself later recalled. Speaking of the ship itself, he said, “From where I stood it was obvious that she was mortally wounded.” There was nothing else for it; the survivors would have to abandon ship.

But that’s easier said than done. Leaving the damaged vessel was an incredibly dangerous thing to do, and if you were injured then it was even more so. And it wasn’t just sailors who needed to get off the boat: there was a dog on board, too! This was the ship’s mascot, Sammy, who had descended into a frenzied state of panic after the barrage began. The dog had jumped into the sea and sadly was never seen again.

About an hour after the decision to abandon ship had been made, the vessel went under, stern first. The sailors who’d made it off could only watch on in horror as it disappeared from view. And now they had to wait for rescue, which, it turned out, wouldn’t arrive swiftly. For some people, the wait was more than two days! Clinging to life rafts if they could, they had to stay out there without drinkable water or food. And on top of that, they had to fend off attacks from the sharks swimming below them.

And things were made even worse for the survivors, as almost all of them had ended up doused in oil. This made their eyes extremely sore, if it got in them, and if they accidentally swallowed some it could make them vomit. There’s a story about one sailor who managed to take off his oily clothes, which made it easier to swim. But his exposed skin was also visible to a shark, which swam so close its skin rubbed against his body. He immediately dressed himself again!

Accidentally drinking the seawater was also a big problem, which left people with bad stomach cramps. Some of them even started to hallucinate. All in all, it was a dreadful experience for the men. Even Copeland, who, during the battle, had kept his head, was now on the brink. His body had given up on him, as he later openly admitted. In his words, “I gave out. I just folded up.” The experience was really taking its toll.

Eventually, on the morning of October 27, one of the men yelled out, claiming to have seen a rescue boat. Copeland, though, wasn’t entirely convinced, aware of the very real chance that this man had simply been hallucinating. But soon there were other men backing up the claim, before this rescue vessel then came clearly into sight. The men in the water waved their arms in the air in a frenzy, doing everything in their power to make sure they were spotted.

But the people on board the rescue ship were cautious — the Japanese had been known to play tricks like this before attacking rescue personnel. No, the rescue crew wasn’t taking any chances here. One of them shouted to the men in the water, demanding, “Who won the World Series?” About a fortnight beforehand, the title had been decided and the rescuers clearly thought any American should know the correct answer. A survivor named Jack Yusen later recalled how all this played out.

Yusen explained, “We saw this ship come up, it was circling around us, and a guy was standing up on the bridge with a megaphone. And he called out ‘Who are you? Who are you?’ and we all yelled out ‘Samuel B. Roberts!’ He’s still circling, so now we’re cursing at him. He came back and yelled ‘Who won the World Series?’ and we all yelled, ‘St. Louis Cardinals!’ And then we could hear the engines stop, and cargo nets were thrown over the side. That’s how we were rescued.”

Reports vary as to the exact number of lives lost aboard the Sammy B, but it was definitely a significant proportion of the crew. The general consensus seems to be that in and around 90 people died, out of a total crew of about 224. The odds had been stacked against the Sammy B from the start of the battle, which they all knew perfectly well. Copeland later reflected on that, saying that it had been an honor to lead his sailors at such a time.

As much damage as the Americans took during the Battle off Samar, they did also inflict a great deal upon the enemy. A big part of that was down to the fact they possessed a radar-controlled weapon, which was able to function even when visibility was poor. The Japanese didn’t have any such technology, and they paid a big price for that. Their approach was far more primitive and way less effective.

In the end, the Japanese were severely weakened because of what had happened at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It might not even be too much of a stretch to claim that they never really recovered from it. After all, they only staged one other major naval engagement after this one, and that was Operation Ten-Go. That took place in April 1945 and it was an unmitigated disaster. What happened at the Leyte Gulf, then, was a sign of things to come.

But while the Americans generally came out of the Battle of Leyte Gulf pretty well, the Sammy B and many other vessels did not. It sank to the bottom of the ocean, not to be found for eight decades. But that all changed with the arrival of Vescovo and his search expeditions. Having already discovered the USS Johnston, now he was trying to find the Sammy B. And he did just that, announcing the news to the world via Twitter on June 24, 2022.

Posting a video of the wreckage, Vescovo also included a caption that briefly explained the story. It read, “With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters [22,621 feet], it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the ‘destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.’” That last part was a little reference to the reputation the Sammy B had acquired thanks to its actions during the battle.

Vescovo and his team made the discovery of the Sammy B incrementally over the course of several days. It all started when they found a rack for torpedos during a dive inside their submersible. This was obviously a sign that something big was close by, so they carried on searching the area. It was another four days, though, before the big discovery came. They’d found the Sammy B, and they could even see signs of the damage it had sustained.

Vescovo later detailed the damage that was visible to the Sammy B. He said, “[The ship’s] bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters [16 feet] on impact, but the whole wreck was together.” It must have been quite the sight, and one that so easily could have been missed. The exact location of where the ship had sank had always been unknown, so a lot of work went into finding it. The shipwreck’s discovery had been by no means inevitable.

As well as all the research and thinking that went into finding the Sammy B, there was an awful lot of sophisticated technology involved in the operation, too. These gizmos are listed on the Eyos website. It reads, “The search also involved the use of a Kongsberg EM-124 deep ocean, ship-mounted sonar for bathymetry and backscatter analysis, as well as a first-of-its-kind ocean depth capable, submersible-mounted sidescan sonar system built for Caladan by Deep Ocean Search (of France), combined with a shorter-range Kongsberg Mesotech 1,000 high-frequency sonar.” It’s quite wordy, but that’s what was required!

All the hard work the exploration team put in has certainly been appreciated by many people. Samuel J. Cox, a director of Naval History, has spoken effusively about the search and what it means. He observed, “Lieutenant Commander Robert Copeland stated there was ‘no higher honor’ than to have led the men who displayed such incredible courage going into battle against overwhelming odds, from which survival could not be expected. This site is a hallowed war grave, and serves to remind all Americans of the great cost born by previous generations for the freedom we take for granted today.”

Kelvin Murray, one of those involved in the search, said, “As ever, there’s been an incredible and dedicated effort by the whole team — the ship’s crew, sub team, historians, and other specialists. Using a combination of detective work and innovative technology, everyone has pulled together to reveal the final resting place of this tenacious ship. It’s been [a] challenging, thrilling and poignant expedition, one that recognizes the ships and sailors from all nations who fought so hard during this battle. We are all proud of what has been achieved and humbled by what we witnessed.”

It’s worth pointing out that the exploration team weren’t just looking for the Sammy B. No, another ship was down there somewhere, and they wanted to find that, too. That was the Gambier Bay, which was also lost during the Battle off Samar. It sank pretty much around the same time as the Sammy B, but things worked out better for the people on board: nearly everyone made it off the ship intact. And as for the vessel itself, to date it still hasn’t been found.

The discovery of the Sammy B is impressive in its own right, but it could have more far-reaching consequences, too. The technologies employed in this operation were state-of-the-art, with some of them being genuinely novel. The fact the mission was such a success could well serve to boost this tech further, which means even more discoveries like this could soon be made. It’s a tantalizing prospect for anyone who concerns themselves with such things, such as Vescovo and his colleagues.

The group has a lot of big plans on the horizon. For one thing, they want to explore the Challenger Deep section of the Mariana Trench, which would be quite the achievement if they succeed in their aims. A series of dives there have been scheduled to take place. They also have their eyes set on other deep-sea locations across the Pacific. There’s a lot of ocean out there, after all, and there’s plenty to see.

Nobody has actually publicized the exact location of the Sammy B, and there’s a reason for that. Over the last number of years, several World War II-era wrecks have been found, but have then gone missing: it’s believed some wrecks have been targeted by black-market salvagers. Obviously, it’s extremely unlikely that the Sammy B could be located and dragged away by amateurs — remember, it’s sitting at 4 miles deep — but it’s a good rule of thumb anyway not to disclose precise coordinates.

Now that the wreckage has been discovered, there’s a fresh opportunity for people to learn about the Sammy B and the battle in which it was destroyed. But the ship’s legacy has lived on in other ways, too. Another ship was later given the same name, and it, too, ran into trouble. A mine blew a hole into this other USS Samuel B. Roberts, but the crew managed to keep it afloat. The same spirit of the original ship could clearly be found in this vessel.