Century-old Navy destroyer USS Stewart found after 78 years

The wreckage of the USS Stewart, a Navy destroyer that fought in both American and Japanese hands during World War II and earned the nickname “Ghost Ship of the Pacific,” has been discovered off the coast of California. Lying 3,500 feet below the surface in the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, roughly 50 miles from San Francisco, the ship was found in what experts described as “exceptional” condition.

This significant discovery, announced by researchers this week, marks the end of a 78-year search for the vessel, which played a unique role in WWII history.

Found by marine robotics after decades of underwater

The USS Stewart was deliberately sunk during a military exercise in 1946, but it wasn’t until August 2024 that marine robotics company Ocean Infinity located the wreckage. The search employed three autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to scan a 37-square nautical mile section of the ocean floor.

“We covered it very quickly, and in high resolution,” Andy Sherrell, Ocean Infinity’s director of maritime operations, said in an interview with The New York Times. Images captured by the AUVs show the ship in remarkable preservation.

From American destroyer to Japanese patrol boat

The USS Stewart was originally laid down in Philadelphia in September 1919 and commissioned into the U.S. Navy the following year. The ship was stationed in Manila as part of the U.S. Navy’s Asiatic Fleet when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

The ship’s tumultuous journey began when it was damaged by Japanese gunfire near Bali in February 1942. After a “freak accident” stranded the vessel in a dry dock in Java, its crew scuttled it to prevent capture by the advancing Japanese forces.

However, the Imperial Japanese Navy raised the Stewart and repurposed it as Patrol Boat No. 102. For much of the war, distant sightings of the vessel fueled rumors of an American “ghost ship” operating behind enemy lines, earning it the eerie nickname “Ghost Ship of the Pacific.”

A battered vessel with a legendary story

The mystery surrounding the USS Stewart was finally solved when American forces found the battered ship still afloat in Kure, Japan, at the end of the war. Following a brief recommissioning ceremony, the ship was towed back to San Francisco, where it met its final fate—a violent “burial at sea.”

On the day of its sinking in 1946, the ship was subjected to a barrage of aerial rockets and naval gunfire for two hours before it slipped beneath the waves. It remained lost to the depths for nearly eight decades.

Rediscovered in ‘exceptional’ condition

A collaborative effort by Ocean Infinity, the archaeology company Search, the nonprofit Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Navy led to the ship’s rediscovery. The wreckage was found largely intact, with its hull resting upright on the ocean floor, a rare state of preservation for a ship of its age.

Maritime archaeologist James Delgado, a senior vice president at Search, described the discovery as an important opportunity for research. “The USS Stewart represents a unique opportunity to study a well-preserved example of early twentieth-century destroyer design,” Delgado said in a statement.

“Its story, from U.S. Navy service to Japanese capture and back again, makes it a powerful symbol of the Pacific War’s complexity,” he added.

Ecological and historical significance

High-resolution images of the wreck will aid NOAA in monitoring the surrounding marine environment, helping researchers assess the impact on marine life and any ecological changes in the area.

Additionally, data from the wreck site will be provided to the Naval History and Heritage Command to support future preservation efforts and historical studies.

The rediscovery of the USS Stewart offers not only a glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of World War II history but also contributes to ongoing efforts to study and preserve the legacy of naval warfare in the Pacific.