An impressive photograph began making the rounds on the Internet that claims to show a US Navy submarine from World War II that had finally been located after being missing for decades. Experts weighed in to fact-check–is the picture the real deal?
Photo of massive sea vessel goes viral, spinning a variety of maritime yarns
Recently, a stunning photograph has been circulating on the Internet showing a huge submarine. The gargantuan, rusted undersea craft was missing a sizable section from the exterior paneling of its hull, leaving a wide-open view of its interior framework and contents.
If the photo of the massive vessel wasn’t impressive enough, the stories accompanying the picture grew more and more spectacular.
The most common tale being told was that the photo was of a submarine belonging to the U.S. Navy, one that went missing during World War II.
As the photograph spread online like wildfire, advertisements sprang up around the image.
One claimed: Missing Submarine with 80 Sailors Found, Experts Discovered the Truth.
Another read: “After a Missing Submarine with 80 Sailors Was Found, Experts Untangled Its Sorry Fall.”
Videos on YouTube also promoted the story, featuring the photograph, but some were now exaggerating the yarn, promoting it not as a U.S. Navy vessel, but as one belonging to Russia.
One read: “Craziest Soviet Machines You Won’t Believe Exist.”
With all these contradicting maritime stories flying like a spinnaker, experts finally weighed into separate fact from fiction.
Fact: Missing submarine with 80 sailors found
It is true that the U.S. Navy lost a submarine named the U.S.S. Grayback, which went down along with its crew of 80 personnel near Okinawa on 27 February 1944, sunk by Japanese aircraft.
The wreck of the submarine was found by The Lost 52 Project in June 2019, 50 nautical miles south of Okinawa. Its discovery was officially verified by the U.S. Navy, and the families of the deceased crew members were notified. The second submarine still sits on the seafloor, upright and 1,400 feet of water.
The photograph of the vessel that has circulated with this story, however, is not that of the USS Grayback.
Fact: Photo is not a U.S. Navy vessel
Experts who studied the widely-circulated photograph have identified the rusted wreckage as a Russian K-84 Ekaterinburg, a Delta IV-class submarine, Snopes reported.
The nuclear submarine shown in the photograph was not one dredged up from the ocean floor, but rather one that caught fire on 29 December 2011, which Reuters had reported.
