A team of explorers and scientists has discovered the wreckage of a Japanese warship at a depth of 800 meters near the Solomon Islands, over 80 years after it sank in battle.
The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer *Teruzuki* was identified as part of an ongoing survey by the nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) to document potential underwater cultural heritage in “Ironbottom Sound.” It is estimated that around 111 shipwrecks from World War II rest in these waters.
During the same expedition, OET also located the original bow section of the U.S. Navy armored cruiser *New Orleans* in the same area.
The wreck, confirmed to be the missing *Akizuki*-class destroyer, was found using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The target was initially detected by the University of New Hampshire’s uncrewed surface vessel *DriX* during seafloor mapping operations.
The team aboard the research vessel *Nautilus* located *Teruzuki*’s remains within Ironbottom Sound—a stretch of water named for the numerous ships lost there during the naval battles of Guadalcanal from late 1942 to early 1943.
The destroyer sank on December 15, 1942, after sustaining successful torpedo attacks from U.S. Navy PT boats. However, only nine of its 353 crew members perished on the day of its sinking.
OET stated that this marks the first time humans have laid eyes on *Teruzuki*’s wreck since it went down near Guadalcanal. The organization added that Japanese naval ship blueprints were so heavily guarded during the war that no historical images of *Teruzuki* exist today.
