New Expedition Unknown Episodes to Premiere on June 24
Global explorer Josh Gates is set to return in new Expedition Unknown episodes on Wednesday, June 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel. The all-new season of the Emmy Award-winning series is packed with high-stakes adventures and monumental discoveries.
From far-flung jungles and remote waters to vast, unexplored caves, Gates pursues his boldest missions yet, hunting for vanished civilizations, diving deep to document lost wartime wrecks, and chasing groundbreaking evidence behind the world’s most compelling mysteries.
Gates kicks off the new Expedition Unknown episodes with an extraordinary two-part adventure off the coast of the Philippines, joining a heroic mission to locate a sunken Japanese “Hellship” – a vessel once used to transport Allied prisoners during World War II.
Guided by new leads uncovered in Japanese archives, Gates and a team from the Hellships Memorial Foundation chart potential coordinates and dive into the darkness where they make a historic discovery: the ruins of the Hōfuku Maru, the final resting place of more than 1,000 missing Allied prisoners – locating one of the largest remaining mass graves of POWs from WWII.
Then, Gates has unprecedented access to join the US government and the DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) on a recovery mission for lost American heroes. Working alongside military divers excavating the Hellship ōryoku Maru, Gates undertakes one of his most daring and poignant expeditions ever, using advanced underwater recovery and identification methods to help honor and account for the fallen.
“This season takes us to the farthest reaches of the globe – but it’s not just about the thrill of adventure,” said Gates. “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. We have incredible discoveries ahead, and I can’t wait to take viewers along for the ride.”
Coming up in the new Expedition Unknown episodes, Gates takes viewers on epic investigations – trekking into the perilous jungles of Laos and dodging unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War to search for mysterious “death jars” from an ancient civilization; plunging into the sunken pirate city of Port Royal off the coast of Jamaica to uncover legendary treasure; and navigating a labyrinth of secret, pitch-black tunnels beneath the Inca capital of Cuzco, long rumored to conceal untold riches.
He also takes viewers tracking elusive lost Confederate gold tied to an infamous robbery; and rappelling into a vast, unexplored cave system to hunt for the relics of a vanished civilization in the heart of Mexico, leading to the discovery of thousands of ceremonial offerings, one of the most jaw-dropping finds in Expedition Unknown history.
