In a monumental occasion for marine archeology and world history , explorers aboard E / VNautilussuccessfully dispatch the first rich - water visual dive to revisit the Second World War ( WWII ) Imperial Nipponese Navy vas , Akagi . Seen at a depth of 18,000 foot ( 5.5 km ) below the surface of the ocean , a Japanese and American - led expedition squad carry on the first visual resume of the wreckage with a " heaviness of the heart like tears that pour like pelting " since it slump to the dark ocean seafloor 81 years ago .

At the metre , theAkagi , indite 赤城 in Japanese , was considered the flagship of the Nipponese naval fleet . Its bombardment and subsequent sinking feeling by U.S. force were pivotal to turning the tide of state of war during the Battle of Midway near the U.S. Hawaiian Islands .

A crew of deep - sea explorers and historian aboard R / VPetrelconducteda dive with an self-governing underwater fomite ( AUV ) equipped with asdic . Then , the teamrecorded – for the first fourth dimension since its sinking – sonar images that indicated the long - lostAkagiaircraft attack aircraft carrier has been found in 18,000 feet of body of water in thePapahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument(PMNM ) , around 1,300 Admiralty mile ( 2,092 kilometers ) northwestern United States of Pearl Harbor .

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virtually four years afterwards , Nautilusresearchers in 2023descended remote - operated vehicles(ROVs ) to the seafloor . It represents the first time human eyes have date the wreckage in real - metre since its 1942 sinking .

It was a achiever .

Made up of archaeologists from both Japan and the U.S. , the enquiry team conducted the historic , noninvasive nose dive in September 2023 to document the historically significant wreck , try out its condition , and honor the life of those who were lose on both side of the conflict .

" As we are indeed on the carrierAkagi , let ’s take a moment of silence , please , to remember the type of website that we are on – an important site – for heavy help and forfeit and the loss of lives , " say James Delgado , an archeologist relate with the expedition .

Due to its distant emplacement and extraordinary depth , surveying theAkagi , as well as the other watercraft recede during the Battle of Midway , has proven to be a ambitious chore . characterize by the dark , inhuman , high - pressured waters of the deepPacific Ocean , theAkagimarks one of the human beings ’s cryptic , most isolated burial site .

" We can see this as Native Hawaiians and the deepness and the fear that we hold for this plaza , and for those who lay in the realm of Po Kanaloa , the Supreme Being of the sea , " said Malia Evans , a monument resource monitor at the O’ahu Education Coordinator PMNM . " We are in awe as we view theAkagi . "

seeable from the ROV camera was struggle price , including a share of the carrier ’s deck that had been flipped upside down from built - up explosive press .

" The survival of this social structure , even in its damage state , is something we had n’t been expecting . It ’s rather amazing to see and even though it has devolve and fallen in , there are identifiable elements that understandably link us back to that time and that point in the battle , " said Delgado .

TheAkagiwas one of four Japanese carriers that sank during the four - day showdown that would become sleep with as the Battle of Midway . It sparked on June 4 , 1942 , after U.S. intelligence forces intercepted Nipponese communications show that the imperial navy intended to establish a justificatory margin of islands , include the remote Midway Atoll .

A shallowreeflocated one - third of the way between Honolulu , Hawaii and Tokyo , Japan , Midway was considered by both Japanese and American forces to be a strategic location for military organisation . passing sustained at the Battle of Midway number nearly 3,400 sailor and flier , signaling a shift of military might between Japan and the U.S. during the Pacific War field of operations .

" It was a tough four days 81 years ago . A lot of pain , a lot of sorrow , and we hope that some healing has happened to so many mankind and women that were involved , " said Delgado . " From the study of these sites , a portion of good can come and we ’ve already seen that with the coaction of people coming together . "

Today , the Battle of Midway is consider one of the " ten most eventful naval battle in human story " for its part in changing " the symmetry for the Pacific War , and with that , the future tense of the Pacific , " agree to Delgado .

" Overall , the Battle of Midway claim the life of nearly 3,400 straw hat and airmen with US going in excess of 350 and Japanese losses in overindulgence of 3,000 . Five major aircraft carriers ( Akagi , Kaga , Sōryū , Hiryū , andYorktown ) , as well two other surface units ( heavy cruiserMikumaand the destroyer USSHammann ) , and over 390 aircraft were also destroyed,“wrotethe Ocean Exploration Trust , a nonprofit that supervise surgical procedure of the geographic expedition vessel and is head by Robert Ballard , who establish theTitanicin 1985 .

The naval battlefield is now protect within PMNM , a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the largest marine protected country on the planet .