Wreck of WWII 'Ghost Ship of the Pacific' discovered off Bay Area coast

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Bay Area's fog-shrouded coast seems tailor-made for hiding ghosts from the past. But now, a research team has pulled back the curtain on a mystery that's endured for nearly 80 years: the location of a U.S. Navy destroyer known as the "Ghost Ship of the Pacific." Explorer and historian James Delgado spun us the sea-going tale of the USS Stewart, captured by the Japanese during World War II, repaired, re-fitted and used against U.S. forces.

"What had happened is that the Japanese decided to repair Stewart as patrol boat," says Delgado. "Off she went to fight in the Pacific War. In some cases, part of task forces that were trying to track down and sink our submarines. When U.S. pilots started reporting it pretty soon folks said that's got to be the old Stewart. And so, in the ranks of the Navy, Stewart became known as the ghost ship of the Pacific back from the dead."

He says the Navy recovered the Stewart after the war, towed her to San Francisco, and ultimately sank her, miles off the Golden Gate. An area that's now part of the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

"And after a couple of hours, Stewart rolled over onto one side and sank, never to be seen again until we dropped a remotely operated vehicle on it," says Delgado.

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First, it helps to understand that the sinking wasn't an isolated case. Delgado assisted with underwater surveys of the USS Independence a carrier also sunk off the Bay Area Coast and was familiar with the waters. Then this summer, he was notified by a company called "Ocean Infinity" that they were testing autonomous underwater vehicles in the area.

"So while we knew of the wreck, an opportunity to find it never came up until Ocean Infinity said we're training and testing some of our gear and in particular, we're taking these autonomous vehicles and we're working them together. Do you have anything you'd like to find? Why funny you should ask that," Delgado remembers.

Using records from Navy Archives and a special permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the team scanned the ocean floor in early august. Finally, with the help of sophisticated sonar and other technologies, they homed in on the wreckage. They say the images show a vessel in remarkably good condition.

Delgado was watching from a remote hook up.

"We worked with the team on board," he says. "They dropped the ROV and they drove it where we asked them to take it. And for 2.5 hours, we explored Stewart comparing exciting notes back and forth with each other, saying, did you see that?"

The Stewart is still the property of the United States Navy. And the mission was not a salvage operation. What the team did take away though, was the satisfaction of solving an enduring mystery.

And uncovering the resting place of the Ghost Ship of the Pacific.

Just remarkable technology. The survey team says the Stewart is sitting nearly upright on the ocean floor about 3,500 feet below the surface on the edge of Cordell Bank.