Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) News

A team of scientists and explorers aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus located and imaged the lost bow of USS New Orleans (CA 32) for the first time, July 7, 2025. The bow was found at a depth of approximately 675 metres in Iron Bottom Sound near Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The discovery was made using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to investigate a seafloor target first identified during mapping operations by the University of New Hampshire’s uncrewed surface vess...

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), aboard the Office of Naval Research (ONR)-owned research vessel (R/V) Atlantis, visited and documented the final resting places of two U.S. Navy sunken military craft off San Diego with the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) - Alvin in late February 2025. Alvin, carrying a science observer from both NHHC and ONR, was piloted by WHOI to explore the World War I-era submarine USS F-1 (SS 20), which serves as t...

In a joint effort between the United Kingdom and the United States, the UK Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations, or SALMO, the unit successfully conducted a survey of the historic World War One wreck of USS Jacob Jones (DD-61). The operation carried out at the behest of Naval History and Heritage Command, or NHHC, and with pivotal support from the U.S. Embassy in London, led to the recovery of a key artefact—the ship's bell. USS Jacob Jones, sunk by German submarine&n...