IJN Musashi Found

Is there any WW2 period massive ships to be found somewhere there?

 

I'm sure the last words of any Japanese WWII pilot were "BANZAI!" On a ship of course, the last words would be "Gurgle."

 

I think only one of the IJN Midway carriers has been found. Yamashiro and Fuso aren't on the charts either I don't think (there have been rumors about one of them). Of the three US fleet carriers lost I know one has been found, I'm not sure about the others. Either the Hiei or the Kirishima is still missing (likely the Hiei although there is some debate). I'm not sure but I think the IJN ships that were in the Leyte Gulf carrier force haven't been found either.

 

None of the main wrecks of the IJN carriers from Midway have been found. In 2004? A piece of wreckage from the Akagi (or Kaga) was found but not the main wreck.

To my knowledge the Fuso and Yamashiro have not been located, nor have any of the carriers sunk in the Phillipines (including Shokaku). Closer to Japan, Shinano has not been found either.

I don't know if any searches have been undertaken in the Coral Sea, but the Lexington hasn't been found. On the topic of US carriers, Hornet is unaccounted for too.

And you can't forget the Indianapolis. Every search thus far has come up empty handed.

I wonder what Paul Allen will go after next? Lots of ships to find in the Pacific.

EDIT: It looks like Yamashiro has been found, but not explored. Google if and you'll see a few very brief statements and a brief video a "dive" to the wreck.

 

I thought Shinano went down in fairly shallow water not far off shore.

 

Less than 100km from shore IIRC. The captain was heading towards shore to beach her when she went down.

Or so I remember. Its been a while since I read "Shinano!" By Capt Joe Enright (commander of the sub that sank her).

EDIT: Just looked it up. Shinano sank in an estimated 4000m of water 105km from shore, so it'll be a while before the wreck is found.

 

I'm certain the Japanese and the Philippean governments will be discussing her war grave status, and what can be done to protect her. Look at what's happening with the PoW and Repulse. They lie in territorial waters, and they've been scavenged. Musashi is smack dab in the middle of the Philippeans. This to me, bodes ill for Musashi.

 

FWIW, I don't think salvage or unauthorized expeditions will be an issue for Musashi due to the depths involved.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31724995

 

Nice read.
Shouldn't the bow have the Imperial Chrysanthemum on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_Seal_of_Japan.svg

And also wonder if it was unusual to fire your AA guns into the water in order to prevent low level air attack. ..Why wouldn't the Musashi fire its' dedicated 18 inch AA round instead.

 

RMS Titanic is a lot deeper, and scavenged.

 

See my post#2 in this thread...The crest appears to be missing, possibly it has fallen off during her sinking.

Conventional Wisdom tells us that the Type 3 Common incendiary shrapnel round (sankaidan) damaged the gun lining, although this has been questioned over the years. Further, it is reported that one of these shells blew up in one of her 18-inch guns during the battle and disable the gun.

Further, the Type 3 was meant to be used against mass formations of aircraft, not against single aircraft targets - As the fuze was set well before the shell was loaded into the gun. Against attacking torpedo bombers, the shell would likely explode well beyond the intended target. So, IMHO, against incoming point targets, the Type 3 shell would be near useless in actually bringing down the it's target.

 

Very true, but Titanic is much more well known than Musashi and anything remotely related to Titanic has intrinsic value that makes scavenging worthwhile. How many people even know about Musashi -- let alone how many would be willing to pay big money for pieces of her? I doubt whether whatever money could be earned by scavenging Musashi would even pay for the boat charter to get to the wreck.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but PoW and Repulse (arguably much more well-known than Musashi) are being salvaged only for scrap. This is only affordable because they're relatively shallow.

 

"See my post#2 in this thread...The crest appears to be missing, possibly it has fallen off during her sinking."

Sorry.
I need to read cover to cover. Just got carried away, thinking I'd found an angle. You were "first". sniff. You still have the belt...but someday, when I grow up...

 

I thought I've read before, they would fire the main guns for the splashes to interdict low flying planes...?

 

It was tried on occasion, but I have never heard of it actually working. IIRC, the aircraft is closing to fast for the fire control to make accurate adjustments, so it would only be dumb luck if it actually worked as intended. Mainly, the shell splashes did serve to distract the pilot during his attack.

 

The Titanic might have more general interest, but never discount collectors and the lengths they will go through. Recall the "Arbiet Mach Frei" sign stolen from Auschwitz.

 

filipino here. local scrappers don't have the ability or resources to mine scrap steel from 1 kilometer down. and filipinos can be respectful to a fault, so i don't think anyone has much to worry about. what i do want salvaged is at least one of the the 18.1 inch guns. that would be a valuable piece of history.