One of World War II’s largest and most advanced battleships, Japan’s Musashi, was sunk by U.S. war planes on October 24^th, 1944, and was never seen again, not until an eight year search by billionaire philanthropist, Paul Allen, and his team of researchers discovered the leviathan 4,000 feet beneath the waves of the Philippines’ Sibuyan Sea on March 2nd.

Allen has always had a fascination with WWII, and so finding the Musashi, which at the time of its building was the largest class of battleship ever made, could be something of a dream come true for the former school buddy of Bill Gates. On Paul Allen’s website a post reveals the awe Allen feels for the almost unsinkable war weapon, stating, “The Musashi, and its sister ship Yamato, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed…Commissioned in 1942, Musashi weighs 73,000 tons fully loaded. It featured eighteen-inch armor plating and was armed with nine eighteen-inch guns, the largest ever mounted on a warship.”

On Friday Allen and his team gave the world a live tour of the wreck revealing clear images of the damage that put the war ship at the bottom of the sea. While half of the Japanese crew members died the day the ship sank, it’s reported that around 1,300 crew were rescued by other Japanese ships nearby. Although there is no record of how many Americans lost their lives that day, it’s reported that the U.S lost 18 planes during the attack.

The video doesn’t capture any Hollywood-esque skeletons popping out of the darkness, although interesting objects float among the twisted iron, bent grills, unfired shells and the torpedo damaged exterior that was the undoing of the great ship. Allen has said that he and his team are now working with the Japanese and Philippine governments to make the site a place of respect that will stand as a military cemetery.

Photo credit: Paul G. Allen Foundation