The Young Chronicle: For Grade 3 March 20th, 2015 | Page 4

YOUNG CHRONICLE

A LOST WW II BATTLESHIP FOUND!
A Japanese battleship from the World War II has been found off the coast of Philippines.

Some historians have recently found the remains of the wrecked Japanese battleship, Musashi, which had sunk by the U.S. military during a
battle during the World War II. This ship has been found in the Sibuyan Sea in the Philippines.
Musashi was probably the largest ships ever built. It was as long as 2.5 football fields and its guns and ammunition were very strong. Such a
strong ship must have been very difficult to sink. It took many U.S. planes, to swarm around the ships, some 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes to
sink it. It was on October 24th, 1944 that Musashi was last seen.
Nearly half of the Musashi’s crew, about 1,023 men, died when it sank. The battle which led to the sinking of the battleship, is considered to be
the largest naval battle of World War II, and one of the biggest defeats ever suffered by Japan’s Navy. The Japanese lost 26 ships, compared
with 6 lost by the United States.
The search was funded by billionaire Paul Allen, who is best known as co-founder of Microsoft. Allen’s father
was in the US Army, and that is what triggered his fascination in World War II history, and inspired him to fund
this 8 year long search for the ship.

M/Y Octopus, the ship that found the wreckage
Take a look at the yacht which led to the discovery of the remains of the battleship. M/Y Octopus, Allen’s
personal yacht is equipped with 2 submarines and helicopters, a swimming pool, a music studio, and a
basketball court. Isn’t it amazing?

M/Y Octopus