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An Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, the ship was the initially U.S. warship sunk by a Japanese Suicide Rocket Bomb April 12th, 1945.
NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) utilized facts supplied by Tim Taylor, an ocean explorer and CEO of Tiburon Subsea, and Taylor’s “Lost 52 Project” group to confirm the identity of Mannert L. Abele.
“Mannert L. Abele is the final resting location for 84 American Sailors who produced the ultimate sacrifice in defense of their nation,” mentioned NHHC Director Samuel J. Cox, U.S. Navy rear admiral (retired). “My deepest thanks and congratulations to Tim Taylor and his group for discovering this wreck website. Its discovery enables some closure to the households of these lost, and offers us all one more chance to keep in mind and honor them.”
On April 12th, 1945, Mannert L. Abele was operating 75 miles off the northern coast of Okinawa, when enemy aircraft appeared on radar. Mannert L. Abele engaged with, and broken various enemy aircraft, till sooner or later an aircraft managed to crash abreast of the following fireroom on the starboard side, penetrating the following-engine area. A minute later, the ship was hit at the waterline by a Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) rocket-powered human-guided bomb, and the resulting explosion brought on the ship’s bow and stern to buckle quickly.
Mannert L. Abele was the initially of 3 radar picket ships hit and the initially U.S. Navy vessel sunk by the human-guided kamikaze bomb.
The wreck of Mannert L. Abele is a U.S. sunken military craft protected by U.S. law and below the jurisdiction of the Division of the Navy. Though non-intrusive activities, such as remote sensing documentation, on U.S. Navy sunken military craft are permitted, any activity that might outcome in the disturbance of a sunken military craft will have to be coordinated with NHHC and, if acceptable, authorized via a relevant permitting system. Most importantly, the wreck represents the final resting location of Sailors that gave their life in defense of the nation and should really be respected by all parties as a war grave.
For much more facts on Mannert L. Abele, please take a look at https://www.history.navy.mil/content material/history/nhhc/analysis/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/mannert-l-abele.html
NHHC, positioned at the Washington Navy Yard, is accountable for preserving, analyzing, and disseminating U.S. naval history and heritage. It offers the information foundation for the Navy by sustaining historically relevant sources and items that reflect the Navy’s exceptional and enduring contributions via our nation’s history and supports the fleet by assisting with and delivering experienced analysis, evaluation, and interpretive solutions. NHHC comprises several activities, like the Navy Division Library, the Navy Operational Archives, the Navy art and artifact collections, underwater archeology, Navy histories, ten museums, USS Constitution repair facility, and the historic ship Nautilus.
