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American Samoa

Identifying an Unknown Wreck: The Process in Photos

At the beginning of July in 2014, E/V Nautilus dove on an unknown sonar target, thought to be a 500 foot-long shipwreck. After a survey of the wreck with ROV Hercules, the Corps of Exploration successfully identified the vessel as USS Peterson (DD-969). Learn more about the dive in photos, or in this blog post.

<p>On a routine survey conducted by a Shell Oil vessel, their crew came across a mysterious blip on the sonar - a 500 foot long blip. They reported the target to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), tasked with identifying the mysterious blip. </p>

<p>That's where <em>Nautilus</em> came into the picture - BOEM asked us to investigate the target. As we approached, it became obvious that this was a shipwreck. But what ship?</p>

<p>Our ROV team first moved around to the bow of the ship, hoping to find some identifying markings - a name or a number. We had no luck on this count, but the shape of the bow gave us another clue: the ship was a <em>Spruance-</em>class Navy Destroyer.</p>

<p>These mysterious letters on the side of the ship, an "H" and an "E," provided one of our first clues. Our archeologists knew that this identified the ship as a U.S. Military vessel, and indicated some sort of commendation.</p>

<p>Here's a closer look - The green H means the ship receieved a "Health and Wellness (Medical) Excellence Award" while the red E indicates an "Engineering/Survivability Excellence Award."</p>

<p>With no luck on the bow, we moved along toward the back of the ship, pausing to image every section of the wreck.</p>

<p>The wreck is deep, lost in about 2,400 meters of water. Our ROV team walks a fine line between piloting close enough to get a good look and far enough away to avoid damaging the wreck.</p>

<p>When we arrived at the back end of the ship, we finally found our identifying markings - the vessel is the USS <em>Peterson</em>, a U.S. Navy Destroyer scuttled after nearly 30 years of service. To learn more about the <em>Peterson</em>, check out our blog post <a title="USS Peterson" href="http://www.nautiluslive.org/blog/2014/07/07/identity-unknown-shipwreck-revealed" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>

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