Скачать или смотреть Examining USS Wasp: The “Clean Break” Mystery of a Treaty Carrier

#USSWasp #Shipwreck #MaritimeHistory #WarGrave #DeepSea
USS Wasp is a treaty-limited aircraft carrier whose wreck preserves a rare “clean break” mystery in the deep. In this documentary, we examine USS Wasp through a non-disturbance war grave survey—linking treaty-era design trade-offs to the physics that tore the ship apart. Built under displacement limits, USS Wasp could not carry a fully developed torpedo-defense system, leaving minimal underwater protection when the Japanese submarine I-19 struck in a rapid salvo on September 15, 1942. The blasts ruptured forward aviation gasoline tanks and, more critically, broke the forward loop of the fire main—collapsing water pressure at the exact moment the fuel ignited, making damage control a hydraulic impossibility.

Then comes the forensic signature: the hull is snapped in two with a transverse, remarkably straight separation—so “industrial” it looks torch-cut. The script explains why: light scantlings, thin plating, and less redundant steel let a propagating crack run through the hull girders after hours of extreme aviation-fuel heat softened the structure. During the descent, hydrodynamic forces created a massive bending moment, and the heat-weakened steel sheared—leaving the USS Wasp “clean cut” as the physical receipt of treaty compromises.

Documented in January 2019 at ~14,255 feet, this is a protected wreck under strict legal and ethical restrictions (including the Sunken Military Craft Act): observe, map, and honor—never disturb. Subscribe for more shipwreck engineering & maritime history documentaries.
This video is for educational and historical documentation. Some images are AI-generated. All materials follow YouTube Fair Use policies.