The USS Grayback was sunk in 1944 during its 10th combat patrol by a Japanese warplane, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.
A single errant digit in the longitude and latitude due to a flawed translation was discovered last year by a Japanese amateur researcher, The New York Times reported.
Using a more precise latitude and longitude, underwater archaeologist Tim Taylor, who leads the Lost 52 Project to locate sunk World War II submarines, was able to locate the wreckage in June, The Times reported.
Taylor and his team used autonomous underwater vehicles and advanced photo imaging to search 10 square nautical miles before finding the wreckage in 1,400 foot-deep water off the coast of Okinawa on one of their final days at sea.
"We were elated," Taylor told The Times. "But it's also sobering, because we just found 80 men."
The Grayback was one of the most successful submarines during World War II, sinking more than a dozen ships, according to the Navy.
The Lost 52 Project works to locate the submarines that were sunk during World War II. More than 40 of the 52 missing submarines have yet to be found. The others ran aground or were destroyed at known locations.
Taylor has led previous undersea explorations.
His first discovery was the USS R-12 off Key West, Florida in 2010, International Business Times reported. The USS S-26 was found in 2014 in the Pacific Panama Canal Zone. The USS S-28 was found in 2017 off the coast of Honolulu.
And earlier this year, he discovered the USS Grunion off the Aleutian Islands.
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