The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced that an underwater exploration resulted in the discovery of a vintage car in the shipwreck of the USS Yorktown, which is located in the Pacific Ocean.
In a Tuesday press release, the NOAA announced the recent discoveries that were made by the NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners during the “Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping expedition” of the USS Yorktown on April 19 and 20.
“This U.S. Navy aircraft carrier took part in several World War II operations before being sunk by a Japanese submarine following the Battle of Midway,” the NOAA stated in the press release. “These non-disturbance dives were the first to explore the ship’s hangar deck, revealing a number of unexpected discoveries.”
According to the NOAA, the shipwreck of the USS Yorktown was initially discovered in 1998 by Dr. Robert Ballard, the U.S. Navy, and the National Geographic Society. The NOAA explained that the recent exploration expanded on previous expeditions, “providing answers to existing questions and resulting in new mysteries for historians and scientists to puzzle out.”
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The NOAA announced that its team “noticed a faint outline of an automobile” during the exploration dive on April 19 while “peering into the aft hangar deck from the port side of USS Yorktown.” The NOAA’s team was able to analyze the vehicle’s features during the April 20 dive and “tentatively identified the car as a 1940-41 Ford Super Deluxe ‘Woody’ in black.”
“With ‘SHIP SERVICE ___ NAVY’ written on part of its front plate, this car is hypothesized to have been used for Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Captain Elliott Buckmaster, or other ship crew while USS Yorktown was conducting business in foreign ports,” the NOAA said.
In addition to the discovery of the vintage car, divers also found a hand-pained mural located in one of the USS Yorktown’s elevator shafts. The NOAA said the mural, which is labeled “A Chart of the Cruises of the USS Yorktown,” features a world map that tracked the ship’s various voyages.
“Measuring approximately 42 feet by 12 feet, its motifs showcase the pride that Yorktown’s sailors had for their ship, the global scale of Yorktown’s activities, and the strategic role that the ship played in defending the United States,” the NOAA said in Tuesday’s press release.
Pictures of the recent shipwreck discoveries were shared Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.
