The wreck of a US Navy destroyer known as the “Ghost Ship of the Pacific” has been found off the coast of California by undersea investigators.

In 1945, as Japan was occupied at the end of World War II, the ship was found afloat at Kure, Japan. Recommissioned once more as the USS Stewart, the old destroyer was towed back to San Francisco and sunk the next year as a target ship.

Ghost Ship of the Pacific’ wreck found off coast of California eight decades after it sank - The USS Stewart was deliberately sunk on May 24 1946

Its story, from U.S. Navy service to Japanese capture and back again, makes it a powerful symbol of the Pacific War’s complexity.”

The USS Stewart, once called the "Ghost Ship of the Pacific," served in both the U.S. and Japanese navies during World War II.

The rediscovery of the vessel, which was captured by the Japanese for a time during World War II, highlights the potential of underwater autonomous vehicles to map the ocean floor.

The wreck of the USS Stewart, the so-called "Ghost Ship of the Pacific" from World War II, has just been discovered off the coast of northern California. According to a statement from the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, the discovery was made on a recent ...