WWII Lost Subs On Google Earth

If you haven't downloaded Google Earth yet (you can get it free here) here's another reason to do so. A reader let me know that a submariner in the Google Earth community, Chief_Sparky, has loaded the location of the 52 U.S. submarines on Eternal Patrol from WWII into the database. Here's what Sparky says about what he did:

The 52 Placemarks contained in this tour represent the best the United States Navy had to offer in defense of the USA during WWII. Positions of the sinkings are as accurate as possible, but some error is inevitable. Many of the locations were determined after the war by piecing together various Japanese ship, aircraft & station records.
Each Placemark contains photos and information about each boat, along with a crew list of those lost. I hope I've done my Brothers of the Dolphin the justice and honor that they deserve.

Here's a screenshot I took of northern Japan for an altitude of about 1000nm; you can see the resting places of 8 boats in this picture (marked with an arrow that I added):

The positions mark the presumed final resting place of, from left to right (or south to north in this picture, where west is on top): USS Scamp, USS Bonesfish, USS Golet, USS Albacore, USS Pickerel, USS Runner, USS Wahoo, and USS Pompano. You can read more about each boat over at the CSP "Lost WWII Subs" site.

To see some of the yellow-and-white "i" placemarks representing the lost boats, I found you had to drop down to a fairly "low" altitude (something like 200nm is the lowest I found). You also need to make sure "Geographic Web" is selected on the left menu.

Overall, it's a fascinating way to spend an evening, and it gives one a better idea of the immensity of the battle our submariners fought in WWII.