Low water ranges in California's drought-stricken Shasta Lake have revealed the long-lost wreckage of a ship that served in World Conflict II. The U.S. Forest Service says the amphibious Higgins touchdown craft — known as the "ghost boat" — appeared final fall within the drought-stricken reservoir.
Markings on the boat's facet confirmed it was used on the USS Monrovia, the battleship that served as Gen. George Patton's headquarters throughout the invasion of Sicily. Dwight D, Eisenhower, who deliberate and oversaw the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, was additionally on board the ship at one level.
The ship went on to serve in a number of missions, which reportedly included the invasion of Tarawa, the place greater than 1,200 Marines died in simply 76 hours.
The united statesMonrovia finally sank in shallow waters off an island within the Pacific Ocean.
The "ghost boat" was salvaged and one way or the other ended up on the backside of California's largest reservoir.
"There may be extra to find of its historical past and clearly its time on Shasta Lake, and nonetheless the circumstance of its sinking stays a thriller," the Forest Service wrote.
The boat will likely be restored and can finally be displayed at a museum in Nebraska.
Higgins Industries in New Orleans constructed a number of thousand touchdown craft between 1942 and 1945. Round 1,500 "Higgins boats" have been deployed at Normandy.
California is enduring a drought that scientists are calling the worst in 1,200 years. In July, one other sunken boat courting again to World Conflict II emerged from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona.