Microsoft founder Paul Allen locates Japanese battleship Musashi off Philippine coast

MANILA, March 4 (UPI) -- Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen said Monday a private exploration team has located a legendary World War II Japanese battleship off the coast of the Philippines.

Breaking the news through his Twitter account, the U.S. billionaire said the Battleship Musashi was found more than a kilometer deep in the Sibuyan Sea.

WW2 Battleship Musashi sank 1944 is FOUND > 1K M deep by MY Octopus Sibuyan sea, bow Chrysanthemum, huge anchor. pic.twitter.com/b9ZMA0icI8

— Paul Allen (@PaulGAllen) March 2, 2015

The Musashi was destroyed more than 70 years ago by U.S. warplanes in the war's largest naval encounter, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

The giant battleship -- along with its sister ship, the Yamato, the biggest ever built -- roamed the waters of the Pacific Ocean from 1942 to 1944.

In February 1944, the Musashi was dispatched to the South Pacific islands of Palau, and on its return route fired six torpedoes at the USS Tunny that killed seven American crewmen and wounded 11.

The Musashi came under U.S. aerial attack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and sank from the damage incurred in the battle.

In a separate Twitter post, Paul Allen said approximately 1,023 lives were lost in the fatal skirmish.

A video filmed by Allen's crew shows a valve wheel from the engine room with "yet to be translated writing."

The footage also shows a teak chrysanthemum, the imperial seal of Japan, at the bow of the ship.

The expedition was launched from Allen's yacht, the M/Y Octopus.

In 2012, "Avatar" director James Cameron used the same ship for his expedition to Earth's deepest point, statement on Paul Allen's website said.