Explorers find WWII wreck torpedoed by a United States submarine on which nearly 1,000 Australians died

Deep-sea explorers said they have located the wreck of a World War II Japanese transport ship, the SS Montevideo Maru, which was torpedoed off the Philippines in 1942 killing nearly 1,000 Australian prisoners of war onboard.

The ship was sunk on July 1, 1942, en route from what is now Papua New Guinea to China’s Hainan, by a United States submarine whose crew did not realise the ship carried prisoners of war.

The location of the wreck had remained a mystery for more than 80 years.