The U.S. Pacific Fleet submarine force yesterday confirmed that a sunken sub found in the Balabac Strait in 330 feet of water is the "USS Flier".There's a great and sad history aroun this sub. The last of her only eight survivors, Al Jacobson, died in 2008 but he had gathered as much information as he could about the Flier's demise and location to fully understand what happened, his family said. They carried on the quest after he died.
In spring 2009, with the aid of the Jacobson family, a team from Toronto-based YAP Films located the wreckage of the Flier.
The Navy said father-and-son divers Mike and Warren Fletcher of the television show "Dive Detectives" captured the first footage of the rusting submarine since it went down, and provided the imagery to the Naval History and Heritage Command to confirm the identification.
The Flier's sinking highlights the danger faced by Pacific Fleet submariners during World War II. According to the Navy, of the 288 subs deployed in the Atlantic and Pacific, 52 were lost, with 48 destroyed in Pacific war zones.
Submariners comprised only 1.6 percent of the Navy but suffered the highest losses in the U.S. armed forces, with 22 percent killed in World War II, the service said.
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