Unsinkable US Navy boat that’s been missing for a YEAR following a missile test off coast of Virginia… washes up 3,300 miles away in Ireland
- US Navy boat went missing during missile test exercise in September 2018
- It travelled 3,300 miles from Norfolk, VA to near Galway Bay on Irish Coast
- The boat had been modified with foam so that it was ‘unlikely’ to sink and so managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean
A US Navy boat that disappeared last year during a missile test has been discovered washed up on the coast of Ireland.
Crew on board a Doolin Ferry Company ship spotted an object floating in the Irish waters on Monday while travelling to Inis Oirr, part of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay.
After being brought ashore with the help of locals, images of the seaweed-covered vessel went viral, with dozens of people interested in where the boat had come from.
‘Later we sent one of our crews and ferry to tow the boat [with the help of a local fishing boat] to the beach at Inis Oirr. Lots of islanders helped to bring it to the beach and we began to wonder where it had come from,’ Doolin Ferry told Fox News.
A US Navy boat that disappeared last year during a missile test has been discovered washed up on the coast of Ireland, 3,300 miles away from its Norfolk, Virginia naval base
It later turned out that the boat is a US Navy High Speed Maneuverable Surface Target (HSMST), and had travelled about 3,300 miles from its home in Norfolk, Virginia.
‘This boat was built in 2015 and it’s likely that it was lost during a training exercise, and it remained in the water drifting until it ended up in the water close to Inis Oirr and was discovered by the crew of the Doolin Express.’
A post on social media by the ferry company has received nearly 3,000 reactions and has been shared 1,500 times.
‘Fascinating how it washed up in Ireland. Would love to know its story,’ one person said.
Crew on board a Doolin Ferry Company ship spotted an object floating in the Irish waters on Monday while travelling to Inis Oirr, part of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay
After being brought ashore with the help of locals, images of the seaweed-covered vessel went viral, with dozens of people interested in where the boat had come from
Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division spokesman Timothy Boulay told The Virginian-Pilot that the vessel had been lost at sea in September 2018 during a missile test.
The exercise took place some 75 miles off the coast of Norfolk, home to the Norfolk Naval Station.
The Atlantic Target and Maritime Operations team searched for the boat for five hours following its disappearance, but later notified the Coast Guard of the potential navigation hazard when they could not retrieve it.
Boulay added that he wasn’t surprised that the boat made it across the Atlantic, as the vessel had been modified by being filled with foam so that it couldn’t sink.
‘Our people are not surprised it made it to Ireland,’ he added.