Flying boats, mini-subs: underwater archeology off Hawaii

A watery grave off the Hawaiian coast is yielding answers about World War II-era aircraft and ships. Explorer-researchers from NOAA and the University of Hawaii joined with colleagues from the National Park Service on an ocean mission off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, to document sites where historic seaplanes, or flying boats, rest on the ocean floor. The joint-agency team surveyed an area around the site of a Japanese mini-submarine that was discovered by NOAA and the University of Hawaii in 2002. . .

One seaplane site documented was the Navy's Marshall Mars, a giant flying boat with a 200-foot wingspan that was forced by an engine fire to land at sea off Oahu in 1950, where the seaplane exploded, burned, broke into pieces and sank with no loss of life.

Full press release here, with lots of pictures and links.

Posted by David on December 16, 2004 2:03 PM