Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Japanese Battleship Hiei- Possible Discovery

Discussion in 'WWII Today' started by GRW, Feb 26, 2018.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Good to see so much effort being put into locating losses-
    "Japanese researchers believe they have located the wreck of the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Hiei – designed by a British naval architect and built with British components before being pitted against the Royal Navy in the early exchanges of the Second World War in the Far East.
    The Hiei was the first Japanese battleship to be lost in the conflict and members of the Tokyo-based Asian-Pacific Remembrance Honouring Association have been searching for the wreck for several years.
    Badly damaged in an encounter in November 1942 with US Navy units off Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, the Hiei was under tow when it was subsequently attacked by US bombers and the order was given to abandon ship.
    The vessel drifted at night from its last confirmed position before sinking with the loss of 188 of her crew, making determining its final resting place more difficult.
    The Japanese group has used sonar to map the seabed around the Solomons and to identify anomalies. In late November a previously unknown wreck was discovered about 7 miles north of Guadalcanal.
    The wreckage is at a depth of more than 1,300 feet and partly covered in sand and debris, the group said. Sonar images show a vessel approximately 490 feet long, 130 feet wide and standing 16 feet proud of the seabed.
    A second debris field is slightly nearer to the surface and is believed to be part of the vessel measuring around 100 feet long by 26 feet wide.
    Experts believe the vessel sank on an even keel and with its bridge upright, although it has sunk into the seabed over the intervening 76 years."
    www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/26/wreck-japanese-battleship-hiei-may-have-located-solomon-islands/
     
    JJWilson, CAC and George Patton like this.
  2. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    It would take years upon years to find every shipwreck in the Pacific from WW2, and that would be if you drain the ocean. I would be very impresses if they did in fact find it, that's fantastic....
     
  3. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    9,503
    Likes Received:
    3,037
    I remember they drained the Zuiderzee, and found heaps of aircraft from both wars...


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    GRW likes this.
  4. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    Oh I'm sure there are many more lakes and lagoons across the world that are probably holding dozens of wrecks like those, waiting to be discovered. It's sad, but also exciting.
     
  5. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    9,503
    Likes Received:
    3,037
    The Zuiderzee was on the way to and from many bombing runs...many pilots chose to fly over it knowing there weren't any AA guns directly below as it was water...the Germans stationed guns along its edge though (and eventually placed barges with AA guns - Scurvy dogs!)...if you were hit and flying low and slow it was a choice place to fly over...many damaged aircraft didn't make the journey though and ditched...
     
    JJWilson likes this.
  6. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    Now I'm very curious as to why there is a Finnish aircraft (F2A Buffalo) in the Netherlands? Are those just pictures showing other aircraft taken out of lakes I'm assuming to prove there are many examples?
     
  7. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    9,503
    Likes Received:
    3,037
    Theres a mystery for you... :)
     
  8. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    Indeed, an even better example..............finding a Ju-87 in Guadalcanal :p
     
  9. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    9,503
    Likes Received:
    3,037
    [​IMG]
     
    JJWilson likes this.
  10. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    ........................I was not expecting that CAC...........
     
  11. George Patton

    George Patton Canadian Refugee

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2010
    Messages:
    3,223
    Likes Received:
    1,171
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Undoubtedly some of those photos were taken outside of Holland. The Buffalo was recovered from a Finnish (or was that Russian?) lake, and resides in a Finnish museum. I saw it several years ago.

    Th Ju88 is certainly not from Holland, and instead is likely from Norway.
     
  12. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2017
    Messages:
    1,411
    Likes Received:
    456
    Location:
    Arizona U.S.A
    I knew there was no way a Finnish aircraft of any type would be anywhere further south than the coast of Denmark, as it was still an axis country despite it's support from the U.S and others in it's fight against Russia in 1939-1940. I just wasn't sure where the lake was initially located, since I saw the B-17 that confused me at first more so than the Buffalo.
     
  13. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
    Svalbard to be precise.

    And the Me-109 was found in a lake in Russia.

    1 out of 4 ain't ba...Well, yeah that is pretty bad.
     
  14. Takao

    Takao Ace

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2010
    Messages:
    10,103
    Likes Received:
    2,574
    Location:
    Reading, PA
    Still, the number of wrecks found is impressive...over 160.
    [​IMG]
     

Share This Page