A5M "Claude." Now with more Zero!

[Octo68]

I am a diver too and I assume that I am very jalous, what an wonderful dive you have here....

Keep on exploring the oceans, there is still a lot to be discovered !

Cheers

Alain

[Django]

Simply amazing... Thank you.

[tom d. friedman]

if that's the case then what is all the hype over the tbd devestator that champlin wants to salvage???

[Curtis Block]

Souvenir hunting in Truk Lagoon has been an issue for a long time. I would not doubt that some instruments have been removed from the aircraft in the Fujikawa by divers. The rectangular areas missing from the skin on the Zeros however, I would believe to be a result of corrosion. I have also considered that the area might have burned shortly before the ship sank.

Though removing anything from the wrecks is illegal and has become more difficult for tourists, locals still routinely plunder the wrecks. One of the most common items removed is ordinance. Everything from bullets to bombs and even anti-ship mines, are stolen for their explosives.

These highly unstable explosives, once removed from their casings and dried (usually by very crude methods) are stuffed into a new container (glass Coke or beer bottles are common) fitted with a fuse (match heads broken off in a piece of narrow copper tubing) which is sealed into place with a water proof substance (gum or wax).

Now comes the part that will make you sick. These homemade bombs are used for fishing. Preferred fishing locations are the wrecks which attract multitudes of fish. Even though this method of fishing is also illegal it still occurs. During the time I was out there the Fujikawa was dynamited at least once.

[Paul Krumrei]

I wonder how many times idiots have blown themselves to bit with that old stuff.

It is unstable when it comes from teh factory, imagine being on the ocen floor for 60 +years.

OMG how dumb!

[Curtis Block]

I saw a few people out there with only one arm.

[Tripehound]

My wife and I saw these planes in 1999, in considerably better condition. The entire Zero fuselage was there, including the canopy framing. The Claude (A5M2a, I believe) appeared to be intact, and was mostly buried in silt. The horizontal tail and rudder frame were also present at the time. From the looks of the pictures posted above, the aircraft have been trashed by souviner hunters. A real shame.

I understand that the Japanese Navy sent aircraft such as the A5M out to staging areas like Truk to continue the training of new pilots, who had received inadequate training in flight school by that time in the war.

[hang the expense]

Fine looking airplane.Dont think it would ever survive the lift though. Its still not as beautiful as the fixed gear hawk 75s.

[Curtis Block]

Do you have any pictures? I would be very interested to see the effect of divers on the condition of the area over the last few years. It seemed that every dive was accompanied by the comment "It used to be better."

What aspects of the aircraft lead you to believe the aircraft is an A5M2a? I could be wrong. Are there any specific differences you can cite?

You have an interesting theory for why the aircraft is out there. It is one that I have not considered. Can you cite any information to back up this theory?

One of the main reasons I started this tread (besides getting the word out that an example of the A5M still exists) was to try and get fresh ideas of why this aircraft is out there. I want to have you all get involved. For this reason I have tried not to comment on many theories. I do not wish to bias or rule out any new ideas.

I will be in Chicago for the next few days. I don't know about computer access, so I may be a little quiet for a while, but I'll try to look in when I can.

[RyanShort1]

Bump...

Ryan

[Curtis Block]

Fancy seeing this old thing on the first page again.

Any help, information or ideas would still be very welcome. At this point The project has sort of stagnated, but I would like to start it up again.


Thanks Ryan.

[gary1954]

if that's the case then what is all the hype over the tbd devestator that champlin wants to salvage???

Tom, I believe it is because the Elite United States Yachting Club has a lable attached to it...which reads "N A V Y".

[old iron]

Nice to bump up an old thread:

The Nakajima C6N mentioned by Curtis Block above was apparently sold by Platinum somes years ago appears and is now under restoration at Harada's Kawaguchiko Zero Fighter Museum in Japan. see https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2022-08-05/myrt-japanese-warplane-nakajima-saiun-6885210.html.

The remains appear to be rather spartan - a tail section and central wing section that includes a fuel tank and the two landing gear. Harada has a Betty fuselage that has been built up from an original tail section, so has the skills to build up what I would probably call a "replica with original parts".

Judging by what I have seen of the NASM C6N at Garber, and a cockpit interior photo in Bob Mikesh's "Japanese Aircraft Interiors" (Monogram Aviation Publications, p. 288), I think this had most or all of its history in indoor storage.

[Zac Yates]

now under restoration at Harada's Kawaguchiko Zero Fighter Museum in Japan.

An excellent outcome!

[Chris Brame]

Military aircraft from all over Japan were flown to Atsugi to be scrapped after the war. About 150 are buried beneath the facility’s golf course, Harada said.

Say WHAT?!?