Explorers find WWII Navy destroyer, deepest wreck discovered

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Explorers say they found the wreckage of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, a U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines. They say it’s the deepest wreck ever discovered at 22,916 feet. American explorer Victor Vescovo, founder of Dallas-based Caladan Oceanic Expeditions, announced the find together with U.K.-based EYOS Expeditions. The ship took part in the Battle off Samar, the final phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, in which the Imperial Japanese Navy suffered its biggest loss of ships and failed to dislodge the U.S. forces from Leyte, which they invaded earlier as part of the liberation of the Philippines.