WATCH LIVE: ROV exploration of historic Japanese submarines involved in Pearl Harbor attack

Post date: Dec 6, 2016 5:32:14 PM

On Wed., Dec. 7, the public will have their first opportunity to view a live ROV dive to two Japanese mini submarines involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, U.S. naval vessels and aircraft on patrol outside Pearl Harbor spotted a partially submerged submarine trying to enter the harbor, but alerts were not immediately sent. Ninety minutes before Pearl Harbor was bombed by air, the destroyer USS Ward fired on the mini submarine, sinking it as it attempted to enter the harbor. The event marks the first U.S. shots fired and the country’s entry into World War II in the Pacific.

The second submarine to be explored during the dive disappeared that morning before the attack. It was discovered in shallow waters in 1951, raised by the U.S. Navy, and taken out to sea to be dumped in deeper water. In 1992, the University of Hawaii’s Undersea Research Laboratory rediscovered it. It has been periodically visited by the university’s submersibles, the last time in 2013.

​Maritime archaeologists and scientists with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries are coordinating the expedition.

​Live Streaming at: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/media/exstream/exstream.html