Musashi to be refloated

This article appeared in the provincial news section of Tempo, a local daily tabloid. There are several mistakes in the article about the Musashi but despite these errors, I think I have to share what I've read with you.
Personally, I don't think it's possible to refloat a battleship of that size. Even if it's possible, the high cost of such an endeavor would make it unfeasible project. What I think they'll be doing is recover artifacts from the ship. Maybe the errors are due to a language gap. I'll find out more.

I am already taking steps to contact the tabloid's mother company to inform them of the errors in the article and about to talk with their P.R. specialist to get to the bottom of what they really want to do.
Here's the article. I am retyping the article here, including errors and all.

October 20, 2008
Biggest WWII battleship in Sibuyan Sea to be refloated

By Mar T. Supnad
Warship Musashi, the Japanese military's biggest and most powerful battleship in the Philippines in World War II, will be refloated, as preparations are underway for the 64th anniversary of the historical "Sibuyann Sea Battle" that sunk the vessel, a visiting Japanese official bared yesterday.
In a meeting at a hotel at the Century Park Hotel in Manila, Japanese government representative Kiyoshi Goto and Tishihiko Suzuki, CEO of Asian Countries and Islands Optical Fiber Communication and Philippines Property Asia or AIPAC declared their intention to work with Philippine government counterparts to refloat the Musashi which was bombarded and sunk by American forces on October 24, 1944.
"The purpose in refloating the warship is in honor of the friendship between the Japanese and the Filipino people," said Goto, adding that the their delegation will visit the site of the sunken warship in Sibuyan Sea today.
Suzuki said all the expenses for refloating the ship is being worked out by his company and the Japanese government as they plan to enshrine it on Carabao Island "as a symbol not of war but of friendship," and also serve as a tourist attraction in the Philippines."
For his part, General Dominador C. Resos Jr. (retired), president of the Romblon Cultural Heritage Association, Inc. (ROCHAI), bared that a big event is being cooked up for the Sibuyan Sea Battle's 64th anniversary.
"Foreign dignitaries, including US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Japanese top officials and others to witness once again the greatest and deadliest Naval battle ever recorded in the history of World War II, the battle of Sibuyan Sea that happened on October 24, 1944," said Resos.
Once dubbed as the world's biggest battleship, the Musashi had a crew of 1,023 when it sanked 1,000 meters down to the seabed of Sibuyan Sea.

 

Just finished speaking with Jeanette Andrade, the lead spokesperson for the Romblon Cultural Heritage Association.
She informed me that the Japanese team is already in Romblon surveying the site.
She and I agreed that on October 28, the guys mentioned in the article will be available for an interview. I'll share with you what I find out from them.
She admits she doesn't really know much more about the details of the refloating. For the guys in the forum who may have a background or expertise in similar operations, is this really feasible?

 

Wow! That´s a huge job to complete I think! Looking forward to how the operation continues....

 

I'm assuming this is an error in translation, as I believe this is the number of lives lost. The ship had a compliment of 2400 I believe. My only question would be if they refloat the ship, what do they plan to do with those saliors?

 

Yes, Mike. I believe the error was made in the translation. I had mentioned a language gap earlier in my first post.
You ask a good question about the sailors. I think there will be no mortal remains left to be found after being undersea for more than sixty years. I will rephrase your question slightly and include it in my interview with the refloating project proponents next week.
It's such a big project but I was told that they want low key attention for it as of now. I suspect that the Japanese company will be doing a survey of the ship and the area to determine if it is really possible to refloat it. One thing that caught my eye is that it was a Japanese fiber optic cable company that took the lead in announcing it. It leads me to think that there may be more happening under the water besides looking at the Musashi. Still, whatever I learn next week will find its way in the forum.

 

I not entirely sure if they know that info Jeff. All I can find is reports of where she was sunk at, which we all know are not entirely accurate. I have been unable to find any pictures of her on the ocean floor. I am beginning to think she hasn't even been found yet.

 

To resurface it and "enshrine" it as a tourist attraction????? I don't get it. After all these years under water, I would think that there would not be much left of it, much less recognizable. I also would think that it would be better left under water as a grave for those who died on it much like the Arizona. Some have no shame.

 

I'm highly dubious that such a project has much of a chance of ever being realized. The wreck is believed to lie in 1,350 meters (4429 feet) of water at 12 07 01N, 122 31 59E. I do not believe the technology currently exists to raise such a large and heavily damaged ship from such a depth, at least not at any reasonable expense. I have not read of any exploration of the Musashi nor seen any pictures of the site. It appears that little or nothing is currently known of her condition and it would be necessary to perform a full survey before any determination is made of the feasibility of raising her.

Besides that, 1,023 of Musashi's crew went down with her. The remains of those crewman make her a war grave whether or not any recognizable human bodies still exist. Incidentally, there are still easily identifiable bones of Japanese crewman who were killed at Truk Lagoon in Operation Hailstone more than sixty years ago, so there are probably similar remains in the wreckage of Musashi. I doubt very seriously the Japanese government has given permission for anything more than a survey of the wreck.

Consider the Graf Spee wreck; it lies in less than one hundred feet of water, is not a war grave, and was not heavily damaged, yet all that came of a project to "raise the Graf Spee" was the recovery of some pieces of her armament and equipment.

 

Most likely we'll see Phobos crashing into Mars first

 

Actually, the only problem would be raising the last feet... Enough buoys should do the trick. The water is actually making the same pressure on all the side so it's like having "only" the weight of the ship

No seriously in theory if they have structures to raise the weight of the ship, then they can in the last feet make an artificial dam around the ship and drain her that way. That would be the easy part if they used one (or ten) of those mega water cranes...
It's very very expensive but hey it's history does it really have a price (yes!)?



Cheers...

 

College boy . . . . all making my head spin with the physics and engineering and all . . . . I'll just have to trust yo on this one . . .

 

I agree that it could probably be a hoax that's why I'm personally going to look into the matter.
The other possibility is that the correspondent who reported that story didn't really know his history and proceeded to write what he heard without checking anything or asking for clarifications, especially if the Japanese spoke halting English.
What I have found out today is that the historical group shows indications of having ties with a real state developer. Carabao Island is just north of the island resort of Boracay. My instincts tell me that this could be a publicity stunt to attract people and give name recognition to Carabao Island.
This is just speculation on my part and I will be confirming this.
Most probably, the effort would be very much like the Graf Spee, meaning recovering relics and artifacts and putting them on display in a museum.
I'm fairly confident that I can get to the bottom of this matter, especially with your helpful inputs and insights.

 

Yeah, and those 72,000 tons are only 1,35km deep. I could walk that distance in 15 minutes at a slow pace

They could use something like this but the USS Cole didn't sink in the first place, and her max displacement is 8,900 tons. All you have to do is use some 8 ships like this one!

 

Interesting, however hardly feasible, she will be full of holes no doubt, and how brittle and fatigued is the metal ?
And how will they preserve her after so many years in the water ?
I do not see it happening, if it does then it will be a miracle.


Herr

 

Musashi would be the one in bad shape and on fire in the foreground. She took 17 bomb hits and 20 Torpedoes before capsising to port and sinking. Sinking 4400 ft. to the ocean floor would create quite an impact. My guess is thats she is going to be in pieces

 

Thanks for posting that pic of the Musashi. The picture gives me a good visual grasp of the ship when it was being attacked.

 

The data that Mike added leads me to believe that there is no way -- and no reason -- for the vessel to be lifted. At best, I see a salvage operation along the lines of what was done with the Titanic.

 

Hey Falcon, you get that interview you were promised? take your time posting the info though. Just curious if they were available