Eighty years after the sinking of the hell ship, Ōyoku Maru in December 1944, the DPAA took a bold, multi-year recovery expedition into the Philippine Sea. The Japanese hell ship was unknowingly bombed by the US in December 1944, resulting in over 1,600 prisoners of war going down with the ship, of which approximately 250 Americans are still unaccounted for.
The USNS Salvor is the base of naval divers and forensic anthropologists conducting a recovery effort at 90 feet under conditions of zero visibility and tangled in crushed metal. The effort is authorised under the Sunken Military Craft Act and represents the US's commitment to provide the most thorough possible accounting for the soldiers who suffered the worst maritime conditions of the Pacific War. By meticulously sifting through the wreckage, these specialized teams aim to finally return remains to families who have waited decades for closure and honors.
