Sonar images taken from overhead show the Hornet in an upright position, as it if floated that way to ocean floor. Because of the depth, the ship is largely intact, the researchers said.

Among the elements of the Yorktown-class carrier somewhat or largely intact and clearly visible:

• An F4F-4 Wildcat fighter plane, its wings folded
• Guns, cannons, and anti-aircraft weapons
• An aircraft tug, its rubber tires still attached to the deck of the ship.

The Hornet was instrumental in the U.S. war effort during World War II in the Pacific. It was from the deck of the Hornet that Jimmy Doolittle Raid and 15 other B-25 pilots took off on the famous Doolittle Raid, which rained down bombs on Tokyo in April 1942, providing a much-needed morale boost for the U.S. armed forces in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941 and other gains by Japanese forces in the Pacific in the early months of 1942. The Hornet also took part in the pivotal Battle of Midway, an American victory that many historians regard as the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

The carrier was sunk on October 26, 1942, during the Battle of Santa Cruz Island, part of the overall struggle for control of the skies over Guadalcanal. The fierce two-day battle resulted in extensive damage to the Hornet and the USS Enterprise. The Hornet was so badly damaged that the crew abandoned ship and the U.S. Navy tried to scuttle the ship. Japanese forces got there first, however, sending the Hornet to bottom of the sea. Of the carrier's crew of nearly 2,200, about 2,000 survived.

It was yet another high-profile discovery for the research vessel and its team. Other recent finds:

• In March 2018, they found the remains of the USS Lexington, one of America's first aircraft carriers, sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea
• Two weeks later, the Petrel and crew found the wreck of the USS Juneau, perhaps most well-known for carrying five brothers from the same family, the Sullivan family from Waterloo, Iowa. The Juneau saw action in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island
• In April 2017, the Petrel and crew found the wreck of the USS Indianapolis, sunk in July 1945, near the end of the war.