The location of the World War II destroyer-escort of the Samuel B. Roberts was discovered by the US-based Caladan and UK-based EYOS expeditions.
The announcement was made by Caladan founder Victor Vescovo who was a retired US naval officer.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in history and involved battleships.
After eight decades, they have found the two deepest sunken ships.
The ship was commissioned on October 27th, 1943.
It had a crew of almost 300. There were twin 40mm and seven single 20mm AA guns and two five-tube torpedo mounts. Depth charges could be launched from six K-gun projectors.
The Samuel B. Roberts was a John C.Butler-class destroyer-escort that was meant for anti-air and anti-submarine warfare.
The ship had a crew of 222 and a displacement of 1,745 tons. There were two 5-inch guns, two twin 40mm and 10 20mm single AA guns, nine depth-charge projectors, and two depth-charge rack.
They were part of a small task force of six escort-carriers.
The mission of Taffy 3 was to protect the US forces landing on the Philippine island of Leyte.
The Center Force consisted of four battleships, six heavy cruiser, two light cruiser, and 11 destroyers. The largest battleship ever built weighed more than all of Taffy 3's ships.
The Japanese force was supposed to destroy the invaders. Taffy 3 didn't stand a chance.
The American destroyers formed a protective circle around the escort-carriers and tried to disengage from them.
The carriers launched all of their roughly 150 aircraft, many of which had been armed for ground- attack or anti-submarine missions rather than for attacks on surface ships.
The first American ship to open fire was in the back of the formation. Evans charged the Japanese in order to buy time for the rest of the game.
All 10 torpedoes of the destroyer were fired in 10 minutes. The heavy cruiser was forced to retreat after one torpedo hit it.
The bridge was destroyed and all but two of the gun turrets were disabled by the Japanese battleships.
After being heavily damaged, Johnston spent the next two hours shooting at as many Japanese ships as possible.
The time is at 9:00 a.m. The Japanese ships were closing in on the escort-carrier when Johnston tried to intercept them. The Japanese ships bombarded the place with fire.
Evans ordered the crew to leave the ship at 10:00 a.m. 186 sailors, including Evans, were taken with it after it sank. Evans was awarded the medal of honor.
After Taffy 3's commander ordered the other destroyers to conduct torpedo attacks, the Samuel B. Roberts entered the fight.
The destroyer-escort passed by and received a salute from the wounded Evans. Samuel B. Roberts was able to strike the cruiser with a torpedo because of its speed and agility.
Samuel B. Roberts used its guns to engage ships that were 10 to 30 times its size. When standard shells ran low the crew fired illumination and anti-aircraft rounds.
Samuel B. Roberts was able to knock out a turret on the Chikuma because its rounds couldn't penetrate their hull armor.
Samuel B. Roberts' luck came to an end. It was hit by three 14-inch high-explosive shells from the Kong at about 9:00 a.m. The crewman said the impact was similar to two trains colliding head-on.
The explosions ripped a 40 foot hole in the port side of the ship. The destroyer-escort stopped and sank.
Samuel B. Roberts was shot to pieces the last 15 minutes she was in action. The Roberts became known as the destroyer-escort that fought like a battleship after 89 sailors went down with it.
The rest of Taffy 3 was able to convince Kurita that he was facing a bigger force. He ordered Center Force to leave after three heavy cruisers were lost.
The wreck was discovered on a cliff more than 20,000 feet underwater.
It was found further down the cliff at 21,180 feet, making it the deepest wreck ever found.
The location of Johnston was confirmed by Vescovo.
The torpedo rack was spotted by another Vescovo expedition. The deepest wreck ever found was the destroyer-escort, which was found in two pieces.
The Limiting Factor can reach depths of 36,000 feet and was used to locate the wreck.
The Sunken Military Craft Act protects the wreck from being destroyed.
Samuel B. Roberts is the name of two other US Navy ships, one of which hit a mine in the Persian Gulf in 1988, sparking a battle with Iran.
Samuel Cox, a retired admiral and director of Naval History and Heritage Command, said that "USS Samuel B. Roberts was lost in one of the most heroic actions in the history of the US Navy." The bravery of her crew serves to inspire US Navy personnel who are tasked with keeping the legacy and example of this ship and crew.
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