Monday, February 8, 2010

World War II Submarine Found

February 3rd Manila Standard Today.

Wreckage of the submarine USS Flier was found and identified in the Philippines' Balabac Strait where the ship sank along with 78 crew members after striking a mine in 1944.

The Flier was a 1,525-ton, 330 foot long Galo-class submarine.

It was found last spring by a team from YAP using information from the family of the last-surviving member of the crew, Al Jacobson, who died in 2008.

It left Freemantle, Australia in August 1944 for its second war patrol. On August 13th, surfaced while in shallow water preparing to enter the South China Sea, it struck a mine and quickly sank. Fourteen of the 86 men aboard escaped, but only eight survived the long swim to shore.

There is a website devoted to the vessel at http://ussflier.com.

It is Always Great When a vessel Such as This Is Found and Identified. --Cooter

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