In search of sunken warships. Paul Allen's expeditions and his finds (12 photos)

Billionaire, philanthropist, one of the co-founders of the famous Microsoft - most people know Paul Gardner Allen in this role. But in addition to business and charity, he devoted a lot of time to underwater research.





Microsoft founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates, 1982. Photo by Paul Allen

In certain circles, Allen is often compared to Jacques-Yves Cousteau, but if Cousteau spent his entire life exploring the underwater world, Paul Allen was searching for sunken ships from 2007 until his death in 2018. Allen's team then continued his work.

According to Allen himself, in this way he wanted to honor the memory of the sailors who gave their lives in the war, because their relatives do not even know the exact place where they died.

Octopus and RV Petrel: Paul Allen's legendary explorers

In 2000, Allen ordered the Octopus yacht from the Lürssen shipyard - at that time the largest explorer in the world. The project was developed by the famous designer Espen Oino and became revolutionary in its class, creating a fashion for expedition yachts that combine luxury and comfort with wide technical capabilities for exploration.



Yacht "Octopus"

Launched in 2003, the Octopus yacht cost its owner $200 million. This eight-deck vessel, with a crew of 63, can accommodate up to 26 passengers on board, providing them with exceptionally comfortable conditions. But, in addition, the yacht has two landing pads for helicopters, as well as a floating dock in the stern. At the dock are the ultra-small submarine Pagoo, the remotely operated underwater vehicle Argus Mariner XL, equipped with a high-resolution camera, echo sounder and sonar station, capable of diving up to 3000 m, as well as the fully autonomous Bluefin 12D vehicle.

But after a number of expeditions, it became clear that the capabilities of the Octopus were not enough for deep-sea research. Therefore, Allen's expedition was forced to rent the research vessel RV Petrel. Subsequently, in 2016, Allen acquired this ship as his own, and the crew of the Octopus moved almost entirely on board, and the yacht itself was no longer involved in expeditions to search for sunken ships.





Research vessel Petrel (with Bluefin 12D lander, photo courtesy of Paul Allen

RV Petrel is a 76-meter deep-sea vessel. After modernization in 2017, it became the only private vessel in the world capable of conducting research at a depth of more than 6000 m. The most modern equipment is installed on board, including a dynamic positioning system, a complex of Kongsberg EM710 and Kongsberg EA600 echo sounders, a BlueView M450 2D sonar system and an on-board EdgeTech 2205 AUV array. Underwater assets are represented by the Pagoo mini-submarine, as well as two underwater vehicles with a diving depth of 6000 m: the remotely controlled Argus 6000 and the fully autonomous Remus 6000.

Finds of Paul Allen's expedition

Battlecruiser Hood

The first known expedition was a trip to the battle cruiser Hood, the flagship of the British fleet at the beginning of World War II. Hood was sunk in the Denmark Strait during an operation to prevent the German battleship Bismarck from breaking into the Atlantic. The exact location of the Hood's death was determined back in 2001 by underwater explorer David Merns. Since 2002, the UK government has banned any research or work on the remains of Hood, as the site was recognized as a war grave.



One of the bells of HMS Hood among the wreckage

In 2012, Mearns received government permission to raise the ship's bell for display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy. The expedition was financed by Paul Allen and the Octopus attempted to recover the bell from the seabed, but the expedition had to be abandoned due to adverse weather conditions. The next attempt was made only in the summer of 2015 and used a rented Seven Petrel, which after purchase and modernization received the name RV Petrel. The expedition lasted several days, and on August 7, the remotely operated underwater vehicle Octo lifted the bell from the seabed.

Battleship Musashi

Work to find one of the most powerful ships of its time, the Japanese battleship Musashi, which was lost during the battle in the Shibuyan Sea in October 1944, began back in 2007. But due to the lack of exact coordinates of the death of the ship, significant depth and powerful underwater currents in the area, for a long time it was not possible to find any traces of the battleship. Only in 2015 was it possible to more or less accurately localize the approximate area and Octopus began a detailed search.



Remains of a teak chrysanthemum on the nose of the Musashi

After an enormous amount of work on bathymetric studies of the bottom of the Sibuyan Sea, on March 2, 2015, in the Visayas region, it was possible to identify a very large object, which presumably could be the hull of the Musashi. The Bluefin-12S deep-sea vehicle found debris at a depth of 1000 meters, which was later identified as “Musashi” - presumably, due to the explosion, the battleship’s hull had already broken up under water into several large and many small parts. The Allen expedition posted the entire search process on the official website, so everyone could view videos of the sunken pride of the Japanese fleet taken by the Bluefin-12S underwater vehicle.

Heavy cruiser Indianapolis



The wreckage of the cruiser Indianapolis was discovered at a depth of 5500 meters, photo by Paul Allen

In mid-2016, the expedition began work to search for the American cruiser Indianapolis, which was sunk on July 20, 1945 by the Japanese submarine I-58 in the Philippine Sea. The main difficulty was that the cruiser did not even have time to broadcast the coordinates of the place of its death, as it was torpedoed almost point-blank and sank in less than 12 minutes. A lot of time was spent analyzing archival documents in order to approximately localize the area where the cruiser sank. Only in August 2017, an expedition on the RV Petrel vessel headed to the proposed square. The search took several days, and on August 18, the REMUS 6000 deep-sea vehicle found the remains of the Indianapolis at a depth of 5,500 meters. The data was transferred to the US Navy, and the cruiser was recognized as a military grave. Given that it remains the property of the US Navy, the command has prohibited the publication of the exact coordinates of its crash site.

Aircraft carrier Lexington

In the fall of 2017, Allen’s expedition began exploring the site of the sinking of the American aircraft carrier Lexington, which had the nickname “Lady Lex” among sailors. The carrier was lost on May 8, 1942, during a desperate battle in the Coral Sea, during which the aircraft carrier's aircraft sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Seho on May 7 and severely damaged the aircraft carrier Shokaku on May 8.



Remains of Douglas TBD-1 aircraft on the aircraft carrier Lexington, photo published on Paul Allen's social networks

After determining the expected area of ​​death, the RV Petrel vessel entered the Coral Sea and began searching. On March 4, 2018, approximately 800 km from the east coast of Australia at a depth of 3,400 meters, researchers managed to discover the wreckage of the aircraft carrier itself and about a dozen aircraft that were part of its air group.

Finds near the Solomon Islands: light cruisers Juneau and Helena

Immediately after the discovery of the Lexington, the expedition began searching for sunken ships in the Solomon Islands. During World War II, fierce battles took place in these waters between the American and Japanese fleets, during which many large ships were lost.



The remains of the cruiser Helena, photo from the archives of Paul Allen

On March 17, 2018, while exploring the ocean floor at a significant depth (4200 m), an underwater vehicle discovered a ship's hull split into two parts. She was identified as the light cruiser Juneau. The ship sank near the Solomon Islands on November 13, 1942 during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Of the entire crew, only 10 people survived.

The expedition continued its work to explore the Solomon Islands area and almost a month later, near the island of New Georgia, it was possible to discover the remains of another large ship lying on the bottom at a depth of 850 m. The underwater vehicle examined the hull and found a clearly visible side number in the bow, belonging to the American light cruiser Helena. He was killed during the Battle of Kula Bay in July 1943 by torpedoes from Japanese destroyers.

Submarine AE1

In December 2017, an expedition from the Maritime Museum of Western Australia on the vessel MV Fugro Equator discovered near the Duke of York Islands (Bismarck Archipelago) at a depth of 300 m the remains of the Australian submarine AE1, which had gone missing in September 1914, an unsuccessful search for which had been carried out since the 1970s . But the technical capabilities of the expedition did not allow for a detailed study, so in April 2018, the RV Petrel vessel with Allen’s expedition joined the researchers. The underwater vehicles available on RV Petrel made it possible to conduct a detailed inspection of the remains of the submarine and accurately identify it.

Battlecruisers Hiei and Kirishima

An overturned hull of a large ship was discovered near Savo Island at a depth of 985 m. Using submersibles, researchers examined it and came to the conclusion that it was the Japanese battlecruiser Hiei, which was lost during the First Battle of Guadalcanal.



Guns of the Japanese battleship Hiei on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean

The researchers decided to continue studying the seabed. In August 1992, the remains of another battlecruiser, the Kirishima, which was a sister ship of the Hiei, were discovered. Due to the imperfection of the technology at that time, it was not possible to study them in detail, but this time underwater drones were able to produce high-quality video footage and prepare extensive material.

Information about the finds was transferred to the Japanese Navy, and in February the Japanese expedition began to study the remains of the lost ships in more detail.

Aircraft carrier Hornet

The search for the USS Hornet, sunk by Japanese aircraft during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942, was the last expedition that Paul Allen financed and participated in its preparation. Following a recurrence of the cancer in early 2018, his health deteriorated and Paul Allen died on October 15, 2018. But the foundation he founded continued to finance the expedition, and in February 2019, researchers managed to discover the remains of an American aircraft carrier near the Solomon Islands, lying at a depth of almost 4800 m.



An International Harvester aircraft tug sits in a hangar on a Hornet

During the search for the Hornet on February 8, at a depth of 300 m, researchers were able to discover the remains of another ship near the island of New Georgia, part of the Solomon Islands archipelago. After examining the remains of the hull, they were able to identify the sunken ship as the American destroyer Strong, which sank on July 5, 1943.

Expeditions 2019

After Paul Allen's death, his foundation continued to finance expeditions and during 2019, researchers made several high-profile discoveries.



Bridge of the USS Wasp

In early January, work began on exploring the Coral Sea. On January 13, a deep-sea vehicle at a depth of 4345 m discovered the remains of a large ship, which was later identified as the aircraft carrier Wasp. She was severely damaged by a Japanese submarine on September 15, 1942, near the island of San Cristobal. Due to a severe fire, the ship's captain ordered the evacuation of the crew, and the aircraft carrier itself was scuttled by the American destroyer Lansdowne.

In early October, the expedition explored the seabed of the Philippine Sea. At a depth of 4,736 mW, the remains of the escort aircraft carrier Saint Lo were discovered, which was lost as a result of a kamikaze attack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944.

After this, it was decided to move to the Midway Atoll area, where in 1942 a grand battle took place between the American and Japanese fleets. On October 15, at a depth of 5,400 m in the waters of the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument, the expedition discovered the hull of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. After this, it was decided to move to the square, where, back in 1999, separate parts of the hull of another Japanese aircraft carrier, the Kaga, were discovered. With the help of deep-sea vehicles, it was possible to find the remaining parts of the aircraft carrier.