No One Knows Why It Went Down
After a year or so in the Panama Canal, it went on a number of cruises until May 1943. This was when the sub was reclassified as a training submarine at Key West, Florida. However, she had been sailing on one of these exercises when a forward section started to take on water. In a matter of seconds, the sub was overwhelmed and sank to 600 feet below the water. As it started to go down below the surface, five crew mates had been at the conning tower above deck. They were all thrown overboard into the water. This group of men, including skipper Lieutenant Commander E.E. Shelby, were the only people to survive its sinking. The other 42 people on board perished. No one has fully explained the cause of this accident. On top of that, the wreck stayed hidden in the depths for almost seven decades.
No One Knows Why It Went Down
All The Submarines That Disappeared
In the fall of 2010, Taylor and the team hopped on a research vessel called Tiburon to look for the R-12 with the help of a remotely controlled robot. They also revisited the area on other expeditions to map the state and take photos of the wreck. On top of that, they made efforts to get in touch with the surviving relatives of the people who survived the accident. Their hard work bore fruit when they discovered the remains of the R-12. This also prompted Taylor to launch the Lost 52 Project. It is named after the 52 submarines that vanished during the Second World War. To put things into context for you, the tragedies had a high fatality count. As a matter of fact, 3,505 submariners died in these incidents.
All The Submarines That Disappeared