Discovery Channel announced the return of its series Expedition Unknown, with the new season scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, June 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Host Josh Gates leads a series of global missions focusing on wartime wrecks, vanished civilizations, and historic recovery operations.
The season opens with a two-part episode documenting a deep-sea mission off the coast of the Philippines. Gates and a team from the Hellships Memorial Foundation utilized newly uncovered records from Japanese archives to trace coordinates for a sunken Japanese “Hellship.” The search successfully located the ruins of the Hōfuku Maru, a World War II vessel that serves as the final resting place for more than 1,000 Allied prisoners of war.
Following the initial discovery, Gates joined the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) on a formal recovery mission. The crew worked with military divers to excavate another vessel, the Ōryoku Maru. The operation utilized advanced underwater recovery and identification methods to account for missing American service members.
“These expeditions aim to uncover the lost chapters of vital stories from our shared past and to shine a light on mysteries that connect us all,” Gates said. “We have incredible discoveries ahead, and I can’t wait to take viewers along for the ride.”
Upcoming episodes in the season track investigations across multiple continents. In Laos, the team navigated areas containing unexploded Vietnam War ordnance to examine ancient “death jars.” Other segments feature underwater exploration at the sunken city of Port Royal in Jamaica and a search for lost Confederate gold.
The season also features underground exploration, including a network of tunnels beneath the Inca capital of Cuzco. In Mexico, the team rappelled into an unexplored cave system, documenting thousands of ancient ceremonial offerings in what producers describe as one of the largest artifact finds in the history of the program.
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