An American ship from the First World War that had been lost in the depths of the ocean since it was sunk in 1917 has been discovered by British divers.
The lost ship was found on Thursday 40 miles off the coast of the Isles of Scilly by a group of skilled deep divers.
Six Tucker-class destroyers were developed and constructed for the US Navy before to the country’s entry into World War One, including the USS Jacob Jones.
It was a magnificent ship and the first American destroyer ever to be destroyed by hostile fire.
A German submarine torpedoed it in 1917 off the Isles of Scilly.
Dominic Robinson, one of the divers who took part in the mission, said that the find was significant only for its historical value.
The Jacob Jones was the first ship of her sort to be lost to enemy action, said Dominic, 52, who added: “This is such an amazing discovery.”
Because of its historical significance, “the ship,” which has been missing for more than a century, has been on many people’s wish lists.
It is particularly intriguing in America because of how much money was spent on the destroyer design.
The USS Jacob Jones was sent abroad after the US joined World War I in April 1917.
The ship was headed back to Ireland and was about 40 miles from the Isles of Scilly when the German submarine spotted her.
With a long history of deep diving exploration, Dominic and his team at Dark Star have located wrecks all over the UK, including the HMS Jason in Scotland and the HMS B1 Submarine.
“One of the most amazing things about this vessel was the extraordinary tales that came with its sinking,” the diver from Plymouth, Devon, said.
When the ship started to sink, the armed depth charges started to detonate, which is what killed the majority of the men who had originally been unable to flee the ship. The destroyer’s captain had ordered all life rafts and boats to be deployed.
A few members of the crew and officers also attempted to rescue men by helping them into life rafts.
Stanton F. Kalk stood out because he spent his time swimming in the chilly Atlantic Ocean between the rafts.
But he ultimately passed away from the effects of the cold and weariness despite receiving the Navy’s Distinguished Service Medal for his bravery that day.
Captain Hans Rose of the German submarine performed a remarkable gesture of charity when he carried two seriously injured crew members onto his own vessel after seeing all the Jacob Jones men in the sea.
He then radioed his adversaries at the US base in Queenstown the coordinates of the survivors so they could go and rescue them.
In eight minutes, Jacob Jones sunk without making a distress call.
Dominic, a certified deep water diver with more than 30 years of experience, gave an explanation of how he and the other Dark Star divers were able to recognise the ship.
Dominic said, “We had already made the decision to search for the vessel, but because to its depth and isolation, getting there is exceedingly challenging.
The UK Hydrographic Office, who has information on the location of shipwrecks on the seabed but does not know which ones they are, presented us with a variety of GPS positions, so we spent this week visiting those areas.
We spent a lot of time researching the vessel before we discovered it on the second day of diving at other nearby wrecks.
Five of us entered the ocean that day, and the ship was around 110 metres above the seafloor and 115 metres below.
Since remnants of the wreckage had Jacob Jones’ name scrawled on them, it was instantly apparent that it was Jacob Jones.
This steam ship’s ability to move at such a high pace was made possible by its large boilers and powerful engines.
Underwater, “war ships appear considerably different from cargo ships—we could really see the cannons, torpedo tubes, and one of the prop shafts that was bent 390 degrees—which would have occurred either when the vessel detonated or when it impacted the sea bottom.”
No personal items or human bones were discovered, Dominic continued.
However, the twisted prop shaft, which illustrates the agony the ship must have through when it was torpedoed, was what really hit home for me.
“Absolutely amazing,”
The ship had eight 21-inch torpedo tubes and four 4-inch cannons, and it was 315 feet (96 metres) long and slightly over 30 feet (9.1 metres) broad.
She was propelled by two steam turbines, each of which was capable of accelerating the ship to a maximum speed of 30 knots (34.5 miles per hour).