The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham Part 19: The Helldiver BuNo 21461 of Mellu island
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, text and research submitted by Dan Farnham, used by permission Designed in 1939, the Curtiss SB2C ‘Helldiver’ was a dive-bomber intended as the replacement for the earlier Douglas-built SBD ‘Dauntless’. When the Dauntless went into production in 1938, the U.S. Navy already knew that the speed, range, and payload of the Dauntless […]
The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham Part 18: The Avengers of Mellu Island
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, text and research submitted by Dan Farnham, used by permission Designed in 1939 as the replacement for the obsolete Douglas TBD-1 ‘Devastator’, a new torpedo bomber with the designation XTBF-1 was built in 1940 by Grumman Aviation Corporation. The first flight of the new torpedo plane took place on August 7, 1941. […]
Help us solve the mystery of this 3D photogrammetry wreck in Truk lagoon
By Pierre Kosmidis 3D photogrammetry submitted by Mike Perrin and used by permission The Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology are trying to figure out this wreck in Truk Lagoon. The Asian Research Institute of Underwater Archaeology managed to do a 3D photogrammetry on her and get the contours clear. There is a mystery as […]
The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham Part 16: The F4U-1 Corsair wreck near Mellu Island
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, text and research submitted by Dan Farnham, used by permission Designed in 1938, the Vought F4U-1 ‘Corsair’ would become the greatest American-built carrier fighter of World War II. It would also have the longest production run of any piston-engine fighter in history. The first Corsair was built in 1940, and by the […]
Locating and identifying WW2 aircraft wrecks: The Kwajalein Missing in Action (MIA) Project
By Pierre Kosmidis Flight deck of the PBM-3D which crashed at Kwajalein on February 16, 1944 Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. Dan Farnham speaks to WW2 Wrecks andpierekosmidis.blogspot.com about the Kwajalein Missing in Action (MIA) Project: “The […]
Battlefield Archaeology: Searching for the Missing in Action aircrews in Yap island, by Patrick Ranfranz
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and videos by Patrick Ranfrantz, used by permission Yap island is located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was occupied by Japanese troops in September 1914, and passed to the Japanese Empire under the Versailles Treaty in 1919 as a mandated territory under League of Nations supervision. In World War […]
The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham Part 15: The “Giants of the Skies”, the PB2Y Coronado wrecks
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, text and research submitted by Dan Farnham, used by permission Big. Lumbering. Utilitarian. The Consolidated PB2Y Coronado served in a variety of critical roles in World War II. Yet it was not considered one of the “glamourous” aircraft, and comparatively little has been written about its service and history. The PB2Y […]
Z Special Unit: The top secret Australian Special Forces “Zed” during World War 2
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and video submitted by Lionel Aitken and used by permission A 13-part documentary series, focusing on Z Special Unit, a largely unknown Australian Special Operations element, is in the making and www.ww2wrecks.com has reached out to Mr. Lionel Aitken, the driving force behind capturing and producing all the interviews with surviving members […]
The WW2 “flying coffin” that never returned: The search for the lost Beaufort
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and info by Pamela Harrison In a solemn ceremony, the relatives of Flying Officer Arthur Aitken and Flight Sergeant Peter Hastie threw flowers on to the ocean gently lapping the shore. It was on the 72nd anniversary since the ill-fated RAAF Beaufort A9-317 took off from RAAF Busselton Air Base on September 9, 1943, never to be […]
The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham Part 14: Exploring the graveyard of the 11 PBJ-1H Mitchell aircraft wrecks of US Marine Bombing Squadron 613 (VMB-613)
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos, text and research submitted by Dan Farnham, used by permission Designed in 1938, the B-25 ‘Mitchell’ started out as a private, in-house design by the North American Aviation company, and was designated the NA-40B, for North American Model 40B. The NA-40B was originally intended to be an attack bomber for export to […]