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Wreckage Found of USS Juneau, Ship Carrying 5 Brothers

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March 19, 2018

Whereabouts of another sunk American ship are now known, thanks to an ongoing salvage project by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. This time, it's the USS Juneau, perhaps most well-known for carrying five brothers from the same family.

USS Juneau wreckage

Allen's crew found the Juneau wreckage on March 17. The ship lies on the Pacific seafloor near the Solomon Islands. As with previous finds, including the recent discovery of the USS Lexington, an autonomous underwater vehicle from the research vessel Petrel did the finding an a remotely operated underwater vehicle did the confirming, via video footage.

The Juneau launched in late 1941 and went on patrol a few months later in the Atlantic. In August 1942, the cruiser entered the Pacific and saw action a few times, including in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

USS Juneau launch

The fateful torpedoes blasted through the Juneau on November 13, reducing it to wreckage in seconds. Launching the torpedoes was the Japanese submarine I-26. After seeing the intense sinking, the two other American ships in the area, the Helena and the San Francisco departed, assuming that no one on the Juneau had survived the blast.

Sullivan brothers

In fact, 100 of the 687 onboard had lived through the explosions. The 10 who survived the eight days until rescue aircraft arrived told tales of harsh ocean elements and attacks from sharks. Among those who perished either initially or afterward were the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa: Albert, Francis, George, Joseph, and Madison. Two went down with the ship, and three died before the rescuers entered the area.

The story of the Sullivan brothers has since been told many times, including in a 1944 movie titled The Fighting Sullivans. The U.S. Navy has named two ships in honor of the Sullivans.

The Sullivans had convinced the Navy to change its policy prohibiting siblings from serving together. Their loss marked by far the U.S. Military's singlest largest single family loss.

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Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2018
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2019
David White