U.S. Ship Sunk by Germans in 1917 Is Found Off English Coast

The wreck of the first U.S. Navy destroyer lost to enemy action has been found off the coast of southwest England, 105 years after it was sunk by a German submarine.

A team of British divers announced the find on Facebook last week, saying it was thrilled to have located the World War I ship, the U.S.S. Jacob Jones, about 60 nautical miles south of Newlyn, a fishing harbor in Cornwall.

Rick Ayrton, a retired dentist and one of the six divers on the expedition, said that when he reached the ship, which lies nearly 400 feet (120 meters) below the ocean’s surface, he could see the base of a gun mount on the deck of the ship, a sign that it had been a warship, not a cargo vessel.