Midway I: the survey of a historical battle site

Abstract

Nauticos Corporation under a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) provides renavigation technology to the United States Navy. This technology enables ocean explorers to locate objects on the seabed. In a test of this new technology, a Navy team used this capability to discover the site of the Imperial Japanese fleet sunk at the Battle of Midway. In the first of three phases, the purpose of Midway I was to discover the location of at least one of the four Japanese aircraft carriers sunk at Midway. Analysis of data included a detailed navigation reconstruction using Nauticos' proprietary Kalman filter-based navigation analysis software, RENAV/sup TM/. With an understanding of general navigation principles, familiarity of ship's performance data, and sophisticated modeling techniques, Nauticos analysts were able to identify and quantify navigation errors in the data. Modern day underwater explorers are able to locate objects on the seabed today with much greater precision and confidence than ever before. This technology makes possible the discovery of many important historical and cultural sites which are now lost under the ocean.