The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham PART 2 – Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita, the only man who has bombed the continental US and the story of the E14Y1 floatplanes found in a shipwreck
By Pierre Kosmidis Text, photos and additional information by Dan Farnhham, used by permission ADDITIONAL RESOURCES The WW2 Pacific Treasures of Kwajalein Lagoon by Dan Farnham PART 1 – Exploring aircraft wrecks Locating and identifying WW2 aircraft wrecks: The Kwajalein Missing in Action (MIA) Project An E14Y1 submarine-launched seaplane, code named “Glen” […]
The haunting remains of the Aikoku Maru wreck in Truk
By Pierre Kosmidis On 21 January 1944, Aikoku Maru loaded the 629 men of the 66th Naval Guard Unit, with ammunition, supplies and construction materials. The convoy was attacked 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) NW of Truk by the submarine USS Trigger, which sank the minelayer Nasami and transport Yasukuni Maru; however, Aikoku […]
Diving at the WW2 Japanese submarine I-1 wreck in Guadalcanal
By Pierre Kosmidis Michael McFadyen from Sydney, Australia has been a keen scuba diver and has visited some of the most iconic WW2 Pacific Treasures, including the I-1 Imperial Japanese Navy submarine wreck in Guadalcanal Island, the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu, the USS Aaron Ward in the Solomons, and the San Francisco Maru in Chuuk. […]
Japanese PoW’s returning home in 1946
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt – LIFE Collections
Battlefield souvenirs: Japan lists 1,140,000 soldiers as Missing In Action. This is their story
By Pierre Kosmidis Today, 2016…..the government of Japan lists 1,140,000 soldiers as still Missing In Action. No trace of them was ever found. The ‘battlefield souvenirs’ that were carried home by soldiers at the end of the war are the only surviving remains of many young men. “Now, many American families, and Canadian, British, Scottish, Irish, […]
Commemorating the crew of the RAAF Bristol Beaufort A9-317, lost on September 9, 1943
By Pierre Kosmidis Photos and documentation by Pamela Harrison www.ww2wrecks.com has previously featured a story on The WW2 “flying coffin” that never returned: The search for the lost Beaufort Mrs. Pamela Harrison has dedicated her time and efforts to help locate the doomed aircraft and the final resting place of its crew members. On September 9, 2020, 77 […]
Mitsubishi F1M “Pete” and Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” by Andrew Hamilton
By Pierre Kosmidis The Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton Australian underwater photographer Andrew Hamilton recently shot images of theMitsubishi F1M “Pete” and Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” aircraft wrecks in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea. Kavieng peninsula and airstrip The Mitsubishi F1M “Pete”in Kavieng, Papua New Guinea PHOTO: Andrew Hamilton Andrew Hamilton plans to visit […]
“Pete” the Japanese nearly intact reconnaissance floatplane of Rabaul
By Pierre Kosmidis The Mitsubishi F1M (Allied reporting name “Pete”) was a Japanese reconnaissance floatplane of World War II. It was the last biplane type of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with 1,118 built between 1936 and 1944. The Navy designation was “Type Zero Observation Seaplane” (零式水上観測機), not to be confused with the Type Zero Carrier […]
Yosegaki Hinomaru 日の丸寄せ書き: Returning the flags of their fathers
By Pierre Kosmidis The nation of Japan experienced nearly 2,000,000 lost soldiers during the war for the Pacific. Of these, approximately 1,140,000 are still Missing In Action. That is, they were killed but no trace of their bodies was ever recovered. The Good Luck Flag, known as hinomaru yosegaki (日の丸寄せ書き) in the Japanese language, was […]
The last battle of Sergeant Taichi Ito 伊藤太市 and his Type 97 “Shinhoto Chi-Ha” tank on Shumshu
By Pierre Kosmidis Source of photos Japanese medium tank Type 97 “Shinhoto Chi-Ha” (an improved version of Type 97 “Chi-Ha”, where “shinhoto” means “new turret”), from the 11th Tank Regiment, stationed on Shumshu still lies where it was knocked out on August 18th 1945 during a counter-attack against advance units of Soviet paratroopers in the […]