Warbird Information Exchange

Ran across this thread over on another board (Moparts.com)

One of the members works there and dove on this wreck. He posted some pics. Is this one "known"?. I'd search but the interwebs are whonky tonight...I'm pushing my luck just trying to post this!

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... w=1#UNREAD

Oh yeah....some guy with an L-4 Warbug also posted over there.... He posts here to sometimes

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Rob

Are they sure its not a Japanese 4 engine seaplane? There are several sunk there.

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The Coronado's nose is short, blunt and tall. The Emily's nose is longer, and not near as tall. This looks more like a Coronado.

Walt

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Are the pics still there? I don't see any pics over there.

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here is the pic of the nose he posted. Stated it is 115 feet down.

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Flying Piper L4-J 45-55209

Ebeye, which is the next island due north of Kwajalein, was the key seaplane base for both the Japanese Navy and later for the USN. There are a number of purposely sunk seaplanes just off of the island (PBM's and Mavis/Emily(?) hulks). Presumably the Coronado may be in the same general area. If you review google.earth the large seaplane ramp can still be seen on the north end of Ebeye. Roi-Namur (60 miles north) has a large number of purposely dumped aircraft in the lagoon...some have estimated the quantity to be in excess of 100. PBJ's, R5C's and piles of carrier aircraft especially near Mellu Island. On the island of Roi I found a number of TBM wings (pictured below) and the following photo shows a wing of an unknown Japanese A/C. The mounds in the background are actually piles of twisted aircraft chunks with many years of vines intertwined. The following photo is that of the Japanese airfield admin bldg with it associated bomb shelter. The book "The Marshalls: Increasing the Tempo", p. 114 shows this same bldg in 1944 with a number of SBD's TBM's and a J2F Duck parked in the vicinity.

The very final photo is that of Japanese 5 inch guns still in place. A pile of associated shells laying inside the protective ring and one shell still inside the breach. Still a dangerous place!!!

Interesting post, thanks. Here are some shots I found of some of the aircraft in the lagoon.

http://www.rickandkendra.com/Diving%20P ... lanes.html

I wonder how salty the water is in this lagoon? Could they be as well preserved as the Lake Michigan airframes?

Not a chance whatsoever!

Very interesting pictures. I wonder if someone tried to retrieve ones of these submerged wrecks, what would happen? Totally desinergrate?

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I would assume so. For any ideas on how the airframes would fare once taken out of the water just look at the pictures of the Corsairs recovered off the coast of Australia about 20 years ago. They were in such bad shape, that the only good parts were some forgings and castings. The aluminum skins were almost completely eaten away by corrosion.

Is there a website showing those Corsairs that you or anybody else knows of? I would like to see them.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Pictures of those Corsairs are posted on the internet, but I don't think they are a dedicated website, but within a personal photo account or museum website, I can't remember. There have been numerous threads in the past with those links, but unfortunately the "search" function on this forum is broken, so I can't direct you to those threads.

Sorry I'm not much help, I'm sure somebody will post those links when they read this.

try this link

http://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/dumped@sea.htm


SD

This list would seem to suggest that the remains of three PB2Y are in the area: 440214, 440914, and 450212

http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/USN/PB2Y.htm


The first two are -3, which theoretically would have had the nose turret mounted. 450212 was a -5R which would not have had a nose turret.

I trust everyone else's eyesight more than my own, but to my poor, old eyes the pic above seems to be sans turret. What think ye?

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Hello all, I posted these pictures on Moparts and dove the wreck last weekend. If I get the chance to dive it again, is there a way to identify the remains? As you can see, we have only found the nose section and it has been underwater in a saltwater environment for a few decades. Anyway, I would be glad to answer questions.
- Monty -