Veteran battleship USS Nevada found in Pacific Ocean

In this photo provided by Ocean Infinity, one of four tanks placed on USS Nevada is seen. This is either a Chaffee or Pershing tank that survived a 23-kiloton surface blast and a 20-kiloton underwater blast, and remained on Nevada until the ship was sunk off Hawaii on July 31, 1948. USS Nevada, like other ships at Bikini, was a floating platform for military equipment and instruments designed to see what the atomic bomb would do to them.

In undated this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the engraving is on the exterior bulkhead above the hatch leading into a shell handling compartment for one of USS Nevada’s 5-inch/38 caliber guns. The first line of the inscription is the number of the door, the second is the designation of the compartment, and the third is the compartment number to which the door gives access. This remarkable level of preservation is occasionally found on deep-ocean shipwrecks due to the lack of light, oxygen, and the extreme cold at 15,400 feet down.

In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Navy, a 40mm gun, still in its gun “tub,” is mounted next to a partly fallen, standard-issue Mark 51 “gun director” used by the crew to direct the fire of these guns. By the end of World War II, Nevada carried thirty-two 40mm Bofors antiaircraft guns. The airplane had changed naval warfare and guns like this helped the crew fight off enemy attacks from the air.

In this photo provided by Ocean Infinity, the stern of the wreck of the USS Nevada is seen with the remains of “36” and “140.” Nevada’s designation was BB-36 and the 140 was painted on the structural “rib” at the ship’s stern for the atomic tests to facilitate post-blast damage reporting.

In this photo provided by Ocean Infinity, the top of the mast that once towered more than a hundred feet over USS Nevada’s deck is seen. Like its sister battleships of the World War I/(early) World War II-era, Nevada’s superstructure was built around a towering steel tripod mast that supported the navigation and command centers, lookout stations, and radar.

In this photo provided by Ocean Infinity, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is seen at sea. These unmanned robotic craft have revolutionized deep ocean survey and exploration. Ocean Infinity’s HUGIN AUV surveyed a hundred square mile area of the Pacific at a depth of nearly three miles to find the wreck of USS Nevada.