Warbird Information Exchange

The crew of R/V Petrel have done it again, this time posting video of wreckage of the WWII Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga resting some 5,400 meters beneath the Pacific where it was sunk during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942.

https://www.facebook.com/rvpetrel/videos/2579752432083627/

Apologies to everyone not on Facebook, but the information is so new it has yet to be posted to any other source.

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WWII Naval Aviation Research - Pacific
https://www.ww2nar-pac.com/

Just fantastic, man was she torn up. These finds I have couldn't have ever dreamed of coming true and most within a year.

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Better is the enemy of Good.

Excellent!!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Sure hope we get next some close-ups on time capsule Zeros, Vals, Kates, etc.

That would be fantastic, but with the fires and explosions that rocked the flight and hangar decks, I would think it less likely that we see intact aircraft like we have seen with some of the recent US carrier finds. Glad this important work started by Mr. Allen is still on going.

I would assume the aviation detritus to be scattered over perhaps several thousand square km, with very little of this being in close proximity of the carriers.

But I am looking forward to seeing what the Soryu and Akagi amount to now. The Soryu apparently had a massive explosion after sinking, and I wonder is that ship would still in intact, but the Akagi may have the flight deck still in fairly good condition (also would be interesting to see what the rudder damage might look like).

I would think the Hiryu to be most difficult to find, as this floated for some hours after being abandoned.

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Kevin McCartney

The team on R/V Petrel just confirmed through new high-resolution sonar scans that they have located the wreckage of Akagi as well. I expect we'll be seeing video/stills in the next day or so.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/researchers-find-warship-wwii-battle-midway-66405366

It seems that technical difficulties frustrated expectations for a follow-up ROV dive on Akagi. The Petrel team has stowed their gear and set course for home. We can look forward to continuing explorations in the 2020 season. In the meantime, they have promised to post more findings from the earlier explorations off Samar.

From the R/V Petrel Facebook page (10/21/19) ...

Petrel’s Midway mission has concluded today. This was an extended project for our team, fraught with challenge and adversity from its inception which has taken its toll. Upon recovery of our ROV from the KAGA dive, the ROV suffered damage that was beyond our ability to repair on site. Regrettably, as a result, there will be no video or photographs of AKAGI from this mission. Most importantly though, our team and assets are safe and will return in 2020 with some exciting new projects!