Why was a car inside a sunk World War II aircraft carrier? NOAA researchers perplexed
A team of NOAA researchers anticipated seeing marine life, wrecked aircraft and other features inside the carrier, but they weren't expecting to come across a Ford automobile.
It seems fighter planes and bombers weren't the only vehicles aboard a famous U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that was sunk during World War II.
A crew exploring the USS Yorktown at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean recently came across the unexpected sight of a Ford automobile in the ship's hangar. The car was discovered April 19 in an ongoing monthlong expedition led by NOAA Ocean Exploration when the crew sent a remotely operated vehicle to explore the iconic Navy warship.
The Yorktown, which Japanese forces struck with torpedoes after the pivotal Battle of Midway in June 1942, has been explored several times since its final resting place was discovered in 1998. But the most recent operation was the first to delve into the ship's hangar.
The baffling sight of the car inside the hangar came amid a larger expedition led by a team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The crew aboard a converted Navy vessel known as the Okeanos Explorer have since April 8 been mapping and exploring unexplored deepwater regions of Hawaii.
Car found amid sunken remnants of WWII-era aircraft carrier
The Yorktown, which could hold up to 2,200 personnel and 90 aircraft, was part of several operations in World War II after it was commissioned in 1937.
Damaged in the Battle of the Midway – a seminal clash of sea and air power – the carrier was ultimately sunk when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the ship while it was being hauled back to Pearl Harbor. The Yorktown's resting place wasn't discovered until a expedition found it about 1,000 miles northwest of Honolulu in 1998.
The most recent glimpse of the Yorktown wreckage came April 19 and 20 when explorers on the NOAA expedition sent a remotely vehicle down to record new observations. The team expected to see marine life, wrecked aircraft and other features inside the carrier, but it wasn't expecting to come across a car.
After the vehicle first spotted the automobile while peering through the hangar deck from the Yorktown's port side, the crew sent it back the next day to get a better look.
That's what allowed the explorers to identify the car as a black 1940-41 Ford Super Deluxe, colloquially known as a "Woody." On the front license plate were the words “SHIP SERVICE ___ NAVY," according to NOAA.
That feature led the team to believe the car could have been reserved for Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher; the Yorktown was his flagship in World War II. Ship Capt. Elliott Buckmaster or other crew members could even have used it while Yorktown was docked at foreign ports, NOAA's team guessed.
Questions remain, though, about why the car was stowed on the hangar deck at all when the ship's officers knew they were heading to Midway. Also puzzling is why the vehicle wasn't jettisoned with anti-aircraft guns and aircraft in an attempt to salvage the listing ship after it was damaged in the fighting.
See NOAA photos of Ford automobile in USS Yorktown's hangar
Discovery made during expedition at site of Battle of Midway
The Yorktown dive was part of a larger expedition in Papahanaumokuakea, a nationally protected area encompassing 583,000 square miles of ocean near the northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
During the exploration of the Yorktown, the team was able to image a famous hand-painted mural of a world map depicting the ship's voyages that had been only partially visible in historic photographs. The expedition also led to the first underwater discovery of aircraft at the Midway battle site.
Researchers even got a look at some of the marine life that has made the remnants of the carrier home.
The 28-day mission began April 8 and is due to end May 5. You can follow along with livestreams on the expedition's NOAA Ocean Exploration website.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com