Navy Cruiser Missing Since 1942 Rediscovered in the Pacific

Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen and his team found the remains of USS Juneau, where all five brothers of the Sullivan family perished when the ship went down at Guadalcanal.

Vehicle, Naval ship, Warship, Battleship, Heavy cruiser, Ship, Armored cruiser, Boat, Destroyer escort, Cruiser,
Wikimedia Commons

A U.S. Navy ship sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 was found this St. Patrick’s Day, 76 years later. A research team sponsored by Microsoft cofounder and billionaire Paul Allen has rediscovered the wreck of the Navy light cruiser USS Juneau. The find follows Allen's rediscovery earlier this month of the lost carrier Lexington.

The loss of the Juneau became famous because all five brothers of the Sullivan family served—and perished—on the warship. Their loss inspired the Navy and Department of Defense to enact policies ensuring such an incident would never happen again.

The Juneau was discovered 2.6 miles underwater off the coast of the Solomon Islands. Allen’s exploration team on the R/V Petrel identified the wreck using sonar and sent an underwater remotely operated vehicle to visually inspect the remains. The researchers confirmed the identity of the vessel through the configuration of the ship’s guns—and the fact that the ship’s name still visible on the stern.


The USS Juneau was an Atlanta-class light cruiser that participated in several naval skirmishes during the Solomon Islands campaign. During the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Juneau was torpedoed by the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze but managed to remain afloat. A second torpedo attack by the submarine I-26 resulted in an explosion so huge that nearby Allied ships thought it would have been pointless to search for survivors. Of the 673 officers and enlisted men on board, an estimated 100 or more sailors did survive, but only 10 were ultimately rescued.

Serving on board the Juneau were five brothers from the same family: George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa. Only the oldest brother, George, lived through the battle, but he did not survive the ten-day wait for rescue.

The five Sullivan brothers onboard the USS Juneau.
Getty Images

The loss of five brothers in combat during World War II echoes the film Saving Private Ryan, which briefly mentions the Sullivan brothers and the Juneau. After the loss of the Juneau the military enacted the "sole survivor policy" that provides for removing surviving brothers or sisters from combat theaters.

The Navy’s current policy is to remove “ soldiers who qualify as sole-surviving sons or daughters” to “locations not designated as imminent danger areas.” The policy, “applies to sole-surviving sons or daughters who are the only remaining son or daughter in a family in which the father, mother or one or more sons or daughters who served in the Armed Services of the United States was killed, died as a result of wounds, an accident or disease, has been captured or is missing in action, or is permanently and totally physically disabled.”

USS The Sullivans.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Rebekah A. Watkins

The U.S. Navy has named two destroyers in honor of the Sullivan brothers: the wartime destroyer USS The Sullivans, and the currently serving guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans.

Via USNI News

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