The US Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) has confirmed the wreck site of the World War II submarine USS Harder in the waters off Luzon island in the Philippines.
Using data collected and provided by Tim Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea and the Lost 52 Project, NHHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch confirmed the wreck site that has been discovered as the final resting place of Harder, one of 77 Gato-class submarines that were built for the US Navy.
The submarine was commissioned on December 2, 1942, and lost at sea with 79 souls aboard on August 24, 1944.
Rear Admiral (retired) Samuel J. Cox, NHHC Director, said Harder sank more Japanese warships than did any other American submarine.
Resting at a depth of more than 3,000 feet (900 metres), the vessel sits upright on its keel relatively intact except for the depth-charge damage aft of the conning tower.
The NHHC said that submarines by their very design can be a challenge to identify, but the excellent state of preservation of the site and the quality of the data collected by Lost 52 allowed for the confirmation of the identity of the wreck as Harder.
The submarine's last known location was in the South China Sea off Luzon during its sixth and final war patrol. It was sunk in a depth charge attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy escort ship CD-22.
The wreck of USS Harder is a US sunken military craft protected by US law and under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy. While non-intrusive activities, such as remote sensing documentation, on US Navy sunken military craft are allowed, any activity that may result in the disturbance of a sunken military craft must be coordinated with NHHC and, if appropriate, authorised through a relevant permitting program.