New Underwater Video: This Pearl Harbor Warship Fired First American Shot in WWII
Video by Paul G. Allen.Archival photos from U.S. Navy Photo- Naval History and Heritage CommandAt 7:53 am on December 7, 1941, Japanese war planes attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor. Yet just an hour earlier, the U.S.S. Ward fired at a Japanese midget submarine just outside the harbor's entrance. It is considered the first shot fired by the U.S. in World War II.
The infamous destroyer, which was ultimately attacked by kamikazes and sunk in 1944, had been unseen for 73 years—until now.
New video shows what remains of the U.S.S. Ward where it lies at the bottom of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. While the location of the destroyer has been known since its sinking, it's the first time the wreck of the vessel has been seen. Underwater footage taken by the
