Researchers find second Japanese aircraft carrier from WWII
MIDWAYATOLL: A crew of deepsea explorers and historians looking for lost World War II warships have found a second Japanese aircraft carrier that went down in the historic Battle of Midway.
Vulcan’s director of undersea operations Rob Kraft and naval history and heritage command historian Frank Thompson reviewed high frequency sonar images of the warship on Sunday and say that its dimensions and location mean it has to be the carrier Akagi. It was found in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument resting in nearly 5,490 m of water more than 2,090 km northwest of Pearl Harbor.
The researchers used an autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, equipped with sonar to find the ship.
“I’m sure of what we’re seeing here, the dimensions that we’re able to derive from this image (are) conclusive,” Kraft said. “It can be none other than Akagi.” The crew of the research vessel Petrel is hoping to find and survey all lost ships from the 1942 Battle of Midway, which historians consider a pivotal fight for the US in the Pacific during WWII.
The battle was fought between American and Japanese aircraft carriers and warplanes about 320 km off Midway Atoll, a former military installation. The expedition is an effort started by the late Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft. For years, the crew has worked to locate and document sunken ships. It has found more than 30 vessels so far.