Peleliu's Forgotten WWII Battle

Vessel: Local Hire - Boat; Expedition Dates: March 25, 2018 to April 14, 2018; Ports: Peleliu to Peleliu

Project Principals: Toni Carrell¹

Co-Project Principals: John Burns², Jennifer McKinnon³

PI Institution(s): ¹Ships of Discovery, ²University of Hawai'i Hilo, ³East Carolina University

Partnerships: SEARCH Inc., RECON Offshore

Grant #: NA17OAR0110214; Award Period: September 01, 2017 - August 31, 2020

The World War II battle for Peleliu is considered of such significance that the entire island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historical Landmark in 1985 and portions were evaluated for National Historical Park status in 1991 and 2003. This project made a significant contribution to our understanding of the amphibious invasion through the discovery, identification, and recording of battle sites. Two well known, but rarely integrated, avenues of marine science were used to characterize, identify, interpret, and analyze battle remains. The traditional deployment of a geophysical and remote sensing package (side-scan and magnetometer) coupled with the use of a small remotely operated vehicle and drone, where appropriate, were complemented by marine biological characterization of the coral reef structures that now host these sites. Funding for this project was provided by NOAA Ocean Exploration via its Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2017 Funding Opportunity.

Data Citation

Carrell, Toni; Burns, John; McKinnon, Jennifer (2022). Environmental data and products from NOAA Ocean Exploration Grant Award NA17OAR0110214 Project: Peleliu's Forgotten WWII Battle. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Project Datasets. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/waf/ocean-exploration-nofo/18peleliu/18peleliu_cruise_landing_page.html. Accessed [date].