U.S. Navy destroyer sunk in WWII discovered off the Japanese coast

Wreckage from a U.S. Navy destroyer sunk by a kamikaze aircraft attack during World War II has been discovered by a team of underwater explorers in the Pacific Ocean.

The USS Mannert L. Abele was operating off the northern coast of the Japanese island of Okinawa on April 12, 1945, when it suddenly found itself "surrounded by hostile planes,” the Naval History and Heritage Command said in a news release this week, as it announced the ship had been identified Thursday.

After the Sumner-class destroyer engaged with and damaged multiple enemy aircraft, a plane managed to crash next to it, penetrating its side, the command said, adding that a minute later it was “at the waterline by a Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka.”

Known as the “Cherry Blossom,” the Ohka was a rocket-powered human-guided bomb “and the resulting explosion caused the ship’s bow and stern to buckle rapidly,” the release said, adding that it became the first U.S. warship sunk by the weapon which was identified as “one of the first cruise missiles,” and fired up to 425 mph.