World War II Navy Tanker, USNS Mission San Miguel, has been found by Hawaiian Researchers. The San Miguel served during World War II and the Korean War, receiving numerous commendations for its service. The tanker was built in 1943 by Marinship Corporation, Sausalito, CA.
En route to Seattle, she went lost on 8 October 1957, when she ran aground on Maro Reef, Hawaiian Islands, while running at full speed and in ballast. When she began to go down by the stern, her crew was taken off by USNS LST‑664, despite darkness, 8‑foot seas and numerous reefs.
Rebecca Weible, a UH Manoa Marine Biology student, told the Hawaii News Nows: “I had to stare at it for a little bit, then I started freaking out under water, screaming and motioning.”
The NOAA make various WWII-era discovery, another recent discovery was in October 2014, when they found a WWII Fighter P40k Warhawk in Midway Atoll.
Stern wheel from Navy tanker Mission San Miguel (as it lays on its port side). (Credits: Tate Wester/NOAA)
Divers on Navy tanker Mission San Miguel. (Credits: Tate Wester/NOAA)
