Welcome to the latest installment of “Writer Fuel – cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration. Today:
Seismic activity from an underwater volcano near Tokyo has raised two dozen “ghost ships” — sunk after one of World War II’s most famous battles — from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Helicopter footage from Japan’s All Nippon News (ANN) captured the 24 ships washed ashore on the western side of the island of Iwo Jima, which is roughly 760 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of Tokyo, after they were pushed up, along with the seabed, by the underwater volcano Fukutoku-Okanoba.
U.S. forces sank the ships during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. One of the bloodiest battles in World War II, the 36-day assault saw roughly 70,000 U.S. Marines fight around 20,000 Japanese soldiers hiding out in bunkers within the island’s volcanic rocks. By the end of the battle, 20,000 marines had been wounded and nearly 7,000 killed. Nearly all of the Japanese soldiers, save for 216 captured alive, were killed in action.
