Despite their massive size, nearly 80 years of surf and tide has rendered the wrecks of the USS Truxton and USS Pollux nearly unrecognizable.
Diver Neil Burgess of the Shipwreck Preservation Society picked a few calm days last year and dove the two sites near Lawn Point on the Burin Peninsula.
The two US warships ran aground on the rocks in February of 1942, claiming the lives of more than 200 sailors.
Many more lives would have been lost were it not for the heroic actions of the residents of Lawn and St. Lawrence who plucked survivors from the rocks below the sheer cliffs.
Burgess says while the wrecks are no longer recognizable, quite a bit remains of the once massive warships.
He says between the storm waves that pound the beaches, and salvage work conducted in the last century, the wrecks are completely torn apart. Big pieces of the machinery remain, as well as “thousands and thousands” of artillery shells and bullets.