More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mission to map them

Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by JoeAltmaier on Saturday September 07, 2024 @08:49AM (#41473646)

My uncle was on a small gunboat in the pacific, which was sunken by a single Japanese plane. They were on extended patrol, supposed to be observing and reporting from concealment.

But bored sailors will do anything, and what they did was fire upon a small plane (missing it). Which turned and strafed them, sinking their little boat and leaving my uncle with shrapnel in his butt for the rest of his life.

His tiny experience in a vast planet-wide panorama of violence. This mapping project is a heroic undertaking! My hat is off to the people involved.

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Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by mapsterman on Saturday September 07, 2024 @11:11AM (#41474330)

Thanks for the shout-out!

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Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by ayewo on Saturday September 07, 2024 @11:49AM (#41474554)

For a moment there, I thought you were the grand parent commenter's uncle :).

Nice work on the mapping project, monsieur Paul Heersink.

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Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by bloopernova on Saturday September 07, 2024 @02:04PM (#41475327)

Thank you for doing this, the wreck map is amazing and humbling. This map makes it easier to follow some historic naval battles; things like being able to locate where the Atlanta went down, so close to the runway on Guadalcanal that was the focus of so much fighting.

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Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by mapsterman on Saturday September 07, 2024 @02:43PM (#41475596)

Thanks!

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Re:More than 20k ships sank during WW II. One man is on a mi... by alex_suzuki on Saturday September 07, 2024 @10:07AM (#41474022)

Glad your uncle survived to tell the story!

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