WASHINGTON--A Japanese submarine torpedoed and sank the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Wasp Sept. 15 while she was covering reinforcement operations in the Solomons, but 90 per cent of her personnel was saved, the Navy disclosed tonight.
Three torpedo hits which struck near the Wasp's magazines and gasoline tanks set off a series of explosions and fires which soon made the carrier helpless.
Five hours later, when all hope of saving her was abandoned, a U.S. destroyer delivered the final death blow with a salve of torpedoes.
The Wasp, one of the smallest and newest American carriers, was the third carrier lost in the Battle of the Pacific. The others were the Lexington, lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea last May, and the Yorktown, sunk in the Battle of Midway last June.
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