Do you believe that history has hidden treasures? A US-based team has completely drafted and recorded the world’s deepest recognized shipwreck, a World War II US Navy destroyer. The USS Johnston is at a depth of 21,180 feet in the Philippine Sea (about 6,500 meters). Although the wreckage’s location has been known for a long time, this is the first time a crew has been able to map and film the entire wreckage. Let’s talk more about it.

The shipwreck was discovered on March 31 by Caladan Oceanic, a private company based in the United States that specializes in ocean expeditions. The DSV Limiting Factor, the company’s exploration vessel, surveyed the wreck, which was discovered to be more than 100 feet deeper than previously believed and lying more than four miles underneath the Pacific’s surface. Let’s talk more about it. Caladan Oceanic was founded by Victor Vescovo, a former US Navy commander with a long-standing passion for exploring some of the world’s most remote locations. He holds the record for being the first person to fly to the top of every continent, both poles, and the bottom of every ocean on the planet. Vescovo achieved yet another target with the survey of the USS Johnston: completing the world’s deepest shipwreck dive. He was at the Limiting Factor’s controls for the entire process, which took place in two eight-hour segments over two days.

The USS Johnston was sunk during the Battle of Samar on October 25, 1944. It was one of four naval battles that made up the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, according to the US Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC). For Carl Schuster, a former Navy captain and Hawaii Pacific University instructor, it’s something he can be proud of, by being able to “bring clarity and closure to the Johnston, its crew, and the families of those who fell there.”