A new seafloor mapping technology has provided a detailed image of a Japanese submarine from World War II that split in half when it was sunk by the U.S. The image, which is three-dimensional, shows the I-201 submarine after 77 years on the seafloor near Hawaii. The high-resolution acoustic mapping system, developed by Kristopher Krasnosky of the Ocean Exploration Trust, confirms the historical story of the submarine being broken into two pieces about 200 meters apart. This image not only adds unprecedented detail to the dive site but also serves as a reference for future work as historians monitor the decay of the wreck.
The Ocean Exploration Trust used the K2 High-Resolution Mapping System with the Norbit multibeam echosounder to generate the images during their visit to the wreck site on November 3. The I-201 submarine is located 2,625 feet below the surface and had never been mapped before, despite previous visits by other researchers. The only known images of the wreck were a few photographic stills taken by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory.
The images reveal that the 259-foot wreck still retains much of its wooden deck and ornamentation associated with the Japanese Navy. This makes it an oddity in a region where thousands of sailors and airmen lost their lives in dramatic battles. The I-201 submarine was completed and commissioned on February 2, 1945, but the war ended before it could see service. It arrived at Pearl Harbor on February 13, 1946, along with its sister submarine, I-203, for study by the U.S. Navy. When the Soviet Union demanded access to the captured vessels, the U.S. military ordered the sinking of all captured Japanese submarines. The I-201 was hit by a single torpedo from the USS Queenfish on May 23, 1946, and went down.
The Ocean Exploration Trust believes that this new imaging technology will be particularly valuable for wrecks where little is known about their history. It provides a greater context of their general build and allows researchers to determine how they sank and how they are now forming ecosystems. The technology immerses audiences in a new and collaborative way, offering a clearer understanding of these deep ocean ecosystems. In addition to the I-201 submarine, the Ocean Exploration Trust also visited another Japanese sub, the I-401, which is located at a depth of about 2,742 feet in the same area.
