The wreckage of a World War II warship, whose crew fatalities included five brothers, was found in the South Pacific Ocean, KWWL reported.
The USS Juneau was torpedoed by the Japanese and sank near the Solomon Islands on Nov. 13, 1942, with nearly 700 sailors killed.
The Sullivan brothers of Waterloo, Iowa -- George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert -- enlisted together after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and requested to serve on the same ship, KWWL reported.
The ship was discovered Saturday night, nearly 3 miles below the ocean’s surface, by a team privately funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, KWWL reported. It was the third ship Allen’s company has found within a year
"It is a remarkable discovery. It is a ship people have been looking for for a long time," said Sam LaGrone, the editor of the U.S. Naval Institute News.
"The fact that you were able to find this ship and the fact that you found the USS Lexington and the USS Indianapolis; all of these historic ships, found by just one crew in a short amount of time is revelatory," LaGrone said "It is a banner day for oceanography and for people just getting up and doing it themselves because these ships have been missing for almost 80 years."
The discovery team will notify the U.S. Navy with the exact location of the ship, KWWL reported.
Albert Sullivan’s granddaughter, Kelly Ann Sullivan Loughren, released a statement Monday, noting that the Sullivan family “is thinking and praying for all of the families of all who lost loved ones” on the USS Juneau.
“It's poignant that they discovered it on the 75th anniversary year of the loss of the ship and also on St. Patrick's Day,” she said. “The luck of the Irish was with their crew on discovery day.”
A Navy destroyer, USS The Sullivans, was named for the brothers.
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