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Divers from the Far Eastern State Technological University in Vladivostok have explored wreckages of two submarines – a Soviet and an American – nestling on the seabed of the La Perouse Strait in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The expedition’s researchers could see the Soviet submarine L-19 on the monitors but it was not possible to send divers to explore it due to a strong current at the site, national televised reports said Thursday.

“The picture on the monitor shows the length, the width and the shape of the hull of the submarine and the chances are high that it is the Soviet submarine L-19,” one of the expedition’s participants Vladimir Kartashov commented to the national Vesti.Ru television.

In August 1945 the submarine carried out attacks on Japanese military ships and on August 23 it did not return to the base as scheduled.
Primorye divers also explored the wreckage of the legendary U.S. submarine Wahoo which was lost in the Pacific in 1943. It lies at a depth of 60 meters on a flat keel and is not silted. The armed parts, propeller screws and rudder parts as well as the engine can be clearly seen.

”It seems that a heavy aviation bomb struck this submarine directly in its conning tower and the explosion tore the submarine up to its keel,” another expedition’s participant Boris Postovalov commented to the Vesti.Ru television.

Sinking 19 Japanese ships the Wahoo became one of the most famous U.S. submarines of World War II. It was sunk by the Japanese navy as it returned from its seventh patrol on Oct. 11, 1943. All 79 crewmen died.