Page 22: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2017)

ROVs

But after much success in battle, the fate of the Indianapolis research led to a new estimated position west of where previ- eventually turned tragic as World War II neared its end. In the ous searches have been conducted.

early hours of July 30, 1945, having just completed a secret But even with the new insight, ? nding a ship that has been mission to deliver materials from California for the ? rst opera- missing for over seven decades is no easy task, especially at tional atomic bomb, “Little Boy” to a naval base on the Paci? c depths greater than 5,000 meters. Aiding Vulcan’s team is a island Tinian, Indianapolis was en route from Guam to Leyte 6,000-meter-rated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), when it was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58. the REMUS 6000, manufactured by Kongsberg Maritime sub-

Indianapolis sank quickly – reportedly in just 12 minutes sidiary Hydroid Inc., which gathered sonar data to locate the – leaving little time for the crew to deploy lifeboats or for USS Indianapolis.

an emergency signal to be sent. It is estimated that 800 of Used regularly in commercial, research and defense applica- the nearly 1,200 Sailors and Marines on board survived the tions, the REMUS 6000 AUV has been labeled a “deep-water sinking, but a communication error prevented Navy command workhorse” by Hydroid. The vehicle can be con? gured to from having any knowledge of the sinking, and rescuers were include a wide variety of payloads to meet diverse mission not immediately dispatched. This left survivors to battle expo- requirements and is capable of navigating for 20-22 hours of sure, dehydration, drowning and shark attacks for a grueling high speed search operations during a single dive, providing four to ? ve days at sea until help ? nally arrived. In the end, ef? cient coverage of wide areas. “Out? tted with a payload only 316 were rescued in what remains the largest loss of life equipped with the tools to optimize the wreckage search, the at sea in U.S. naval history. REMUS 6000 vehicle was an ideal, versatile solution for this

Due to the ship’s rapid sinking and lack of a distress call, the mission. This is one of the many reasons why the vehicle is ship’s location had long remained a mystery – until recently. in a league of its own; we are able to design it to meet in-

Microsoft co-founder, philanthropist and entrepreneur Paul dividual operational requirements,” a Hydroid representative

G. Allen is fascinated with World War II history. Combining said. “The REMUS 6000 has proven time and time again that this passion with a spirit of technological innovation, Mr. Al- it is a reliable, ? eld-proven solution. Speci? cally, it was used len and his Seattle-based company Vulcan Inc. set out to hunt in the discovery of Air France Flight 447, a passenger ? ight for the Indianapolis. The team embarked with several high- that crashed in June 2009, and to explore the site of the Titanic pro? le marine archaeology projects already under their belt, sinking in July 2010.” including the discovery of Japanese battleship Musashi in To ? nd the long-lost Indianapolis, the REMUS 6000 AUV

March 2015 and Italian WWII destroyer Artigliere in March was equipped with long range, high resolution side scan sonar 2017, as well as the recovery of the bell from the HMS Hood and bathymetry equipment for scanning the sea? oor to detect for presentation to the British Navy. and classify anomalies. The EdgeTech dual frequency 2205

Other search missions to locate Indianapolis have been un- 75kHz / 230kHz side scan with interferometric bathymetry dertaken by various groups over the years, but all have come was mounted on the AUV to acoustically image a large 1 km up short – partly due to a lack of suf? cient technology. For range (in low frequency mode) from each side of the vehicle the Indianapolis search, Mr. Allen deployed an exploration while ? ying preprogrammed deepwater searches in a mowing team out? tted with the latest state-of-the-art deep search and pattern.

exploration equipment aboard the newly acquired 76-meter- Once a search grid was completed, the AUV surfaced at a long DP2 vessel RV Petrel. Vulcan Inc. purchased the offshore preset location for retrieval to the Petrel. On board the team service vessel in 2016 from subsea engineering, construction downloaded stored survey data for review and swapped batter- and services company Subsea 7. The ship was converted into a ies for redeployment. Data analysis revealed seabed anoma- bona? de deep submergence research vessel in 2017, and now lies such as geology features or manmade objects/debris that sails as one of the select few ships worldwide equipped to could potentially point out the location of the missing war- explore 6,000 meters below the ocean’s surface. ship. Once targets of interest were identi? ed and mapped at

For the Indianapolis search, the Vulcan team conducted a closer range and higher resolution at 230 kHz, the Petrel team signi? cant amount of research, leveraging a combination of deployed a newly built, class-leading remotely operated ve- historical records, detailed undersea topographical data and hicle (ROV) system for positive identi? cation.

advanced technology to explore a 400 square nautical mile For design, build and commissioning of the specialty ROV, search area between Guam and Palau in the Philippine Sea. A Mr. Allen’s team contracted 3U Technologies LLC to man- key data point came from a discovery by Dr. Richard Hulver, age overall system design and integration. Vulcan had initially a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command, contracted 3U in 2012 to investigate 6,000-meter rated ROV who identi? ed a naval landing craft that had recorded sighting solutions to extend its exploration and archeology capabilities the USS Indianapolis hours before it was torpedoed. All this to a majority of the world’s ocean depths. 3U worked under

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