The sea blankets much of our world, but a lot of it is still a secret. Occasionally, though, the secret yields a tale from the past—of bravery, tragedy, and survival. One such tale cropped up when deep-sea researchers found the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), which is now officially the deepest confirmed shipwreck on our planet. Resting nearly 6,900 meters (22,621 feet) below the surface of the Philippine Sea, its discovery is both a triumph of exploration and a revival of one of World War II’s most remarkable naval tales.
Commissioned in April 1944, the Samuel B. Roberts was a John C. Butler–class destroyer escort named after Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr., who died in action at Guadalcanal. Only 306 feet in length and tipping the scales at 1,745 tons, the ship had a crew of 224 and was constructed with the specific purpose of a defensive mission—protection of bigger ships against airborne and submersible attacks. Tiny for a warship, it wasn’t built to hold its own against the sea monsters. War, however, tends to alter perceptions.
That rewording arrived on October 25, 1944, at the Battle of Samar, a component of the larger and crucial Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Samuel B. Roberts was attached to “Taffy 3,” a task force of six escort carriers and their destroyer escorts. When a gigantic Japanese fleet—four battleships (including the fabled Yamato), eight cruisers, and eleven destroyers—appeared on the horizon, the Americans were severely outgunned.
The events that followed forever secured the Roberts’ position in naval history. Charging into battle headlong, the destroyer escort was able to disable the Japanese heavy cruiser Chōkai and badly injure Chikuma before it was swamped. Enemy 14-inch rounds—most likely from battleships Kongo or Haruna—smashed into the ship, blowing open its port side, destroying its second engine room, and igniting fires that could not be brought under control. At 9:10 a.m., with electricity and communications knocked out, the command to leave the ship was given. Eighty-nine men were lost; survivors clung to life rafts for 50 agonizing hours before they were rescued.
The location of the ship’s grave had been unknown for almost 80 years—until June 2022, when explorer Victor Vescovo, a retired U.S. Navy officer, discovered it. With his submersible Limiting Factor and EYOS Expeditions, and sonar expert Jeremie Morizet, Vescovo initially saw a torpedo launcher, then the wreckage days later. The ship rested in large part intact, broken into two sections just ten meters apart, its battle damage still evident. The wreckage and the collapsed bow spoke of a final, violent dive to the seafloor.
Penetrating such depths is an engineering feat few ships can achieve. At almost 7,000 meters, the water pressure exceeds 600 times the pressure at the surface—sufficient to squash most submersibles and remote-operated vehicles. Locating and mapping the Samuel B. Roberts was not merely a function of expertise, but of pushing technology to its limits.
The U.S. Navy has subsequently identified the wreck and designated it a guarded war grave under the Sunken Military Craft Act.
The rediscovery of Samuel B. Roberts is more than an archaeological achievement—it’s a reminder. Under the calm, dark waters of the Philippine Sea rests the steel skeleton of a ship that fought with a bravery far beyond its size, and the tale of a crew who held firm against insurmountable odds. Now, thanks to advances in exploration, that tale has re-emerged for the world to recall.
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