Watch video of WWII Navy ship found at bottom of Philippine Sea

The world's deepest known shipwreck, a World War II US Navy destroyer, has been fully mapped and filmed by a US-based crew.

The ship, the USS Johnston, is at a depth of 21,180 feet (about 6,500 meters) in the Philippine Sea. Its location has been known, but this is the first time that a crew has been able to map and film the entire wreck site.

Caladan Oceanic, a US-based private company that focuses on ocean expeditions, gets credit for reaching the shipwreck on March 31. Its research vessel, the DSV Limiting Factor, was able to survey the wreck, which was more than 100 feet deeper than previously believed, sitting in the darkness more than four miles below the surface of the Pacific.

Caladan Oceanic's founder is Victor Vescovo, a former US Navy commander who has a long-established passion for visiting some of the world's most hard-to-get-to places. He holds the record for being the first person in history to have been to the top of all the world's continents, both poles, and the bottom of all its oceans.

With the survey of the USS Johnston, Vescovo reached another milestone -- completing the deepest shipwreck dive in history. He was at the controls of the Limiting Factor for the whole process, which took place in two eight-hour segments over two days.

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