Researchers for the first time have performed a detailed search of three deep-sea shipwrecks from the Battle of Midway, discovering new details that could help researchers better understand a critical turning point in World War II. 

The three shipwrecks were recently surveyed by a crew aboard the Exploration Vessel Nautilus, according to the Ocean Exploration Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated to seafloor exploration. 

The crew used remote-controlled vessels to film and photograph the USS Yorktown, as well as the wreckage of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s Akagi and Kaga. 

“We methodically circumnavigated these historic wrecks, bringing to light many features in great detail, including armament, battle and sinking-related damage,” Daniel Wagner, the chief scientist for the Ocean Exploration Trust, said in a news release. The trust led the project in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.