Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums

More underwater wreck pictures from Kwajalein Atoll...

Aircraft Pictures Discuss More underwater wreck pictures from Kwajalein Atoll... in the World War II - Aviation forums; Hi all, Three days ago, I dove on the wreck of another H6K 'Mavis' that's just off Ebeye island, ...


Go Back   Aircraft of World War II - Warbird Forums > World War II - Aviation > Aircraft Pictures

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 11-15-2007, 08:00 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
corsairfreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
Posts: 19
Country:
More underwater wreck pictures from Kwajalein Atoll...

Hi all,

Three days ago, I dove on the wreck of another H6K 'Mavis' that's just off Ebeye island, near the Ebeye pier. This is the second of two H6K's that are off Ebeye...the other is farther north, just off the old seaplane ramp. Ebeye was the site of a Japanese seaplane base prior to the invasion of Kwajalein Atoll by U.S. forces in late Jan. 1944.

The research that I've done since diving the first 'Mavis' several months back, indicates that both of these H6K's were strafed and sunk on Feb. 1, 1942, by SBD's from the USS ENTERPRISE. That date is significant for two reasons- it was not only the date of the first American attack on Kwajalein Atoll, but it was also the first U.S. offensive action against the Japanese during WWII.

This H6K wreck is pretty much a jumbled pile, but there's more to it than the 'Mavis' wreck farther north. For example, on this wreck all four engines are present. More of the fuselage is present as well, although a large section of what appears to be the aft fuselage lies about 100 feet away from the main wreckage area.

This wreck is about 50 feet deep, which is a comfortable depth for scuba diving. I shot a total of 61 pictures of this wreck during my dive on it. I've sent the best 19 pictures in to J-aircraft.com for their Relics section. Of those 19, I'm posting 8 of them here today.

I shot these pictures using a digital SeaLife Reefmaster DC600. The other diver seen in a couple of these pictures is Hal Parker, a friend of mine who is also a WWII history buff and wreck diving enthusiast.

And now, on to the pictures. I hope you like them. Cheers all!

Dan, from Kwajalein















corsairfreak is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 08:37 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
comiso90's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Fresno, CA
Posts: 1,940
Country:
Holy sh!t...

awesome!

I wanna go!
__________________
“that can’t be a prop job....it’s got to be one of the 262 jets.”.... James Finnegan.


www.franklinj.com
www.PaperMoneyForum.com


comiso90 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 08:46 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
syscom3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 7,582
Thanks for posting this!
__________________
"Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?"
syscom3 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 08:50 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Aggie08's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 959
Country:
Send a message via AIM to Aggie08
That would be incredible. Lucky. Any more aircraft around the area?
__________________
"I had ten rockets on board, and as I wasn't particularly fond of head-on attacks, I salvoed the whole lot at him. The rockets didn't hit him but but they must have scared the bejesus out of him, for he did a steep turn to starboard... I let him have the full blast, all eight fifty-calibers. I had never seen an aircraft completely disintegrate in the air the way this Me-110 did..."
Bill Dunn, 406th Fighter Group



Matt
Aggie08 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 08:58 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
ccheese's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Posts: 3,746
Country:
Damn !! Words escape me !

Charles
__________________


Democrats think the glass is half full...

Republicans think the glass is their's !
ccheese is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 09:49 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 685
Country:
Hi Corsairfreak,

>And now, on to the pictures. I hope you like them. Cheers all! :)

Very impressive! :-)

A spontaneous thought: Have you considered making stereoscopic pictures?

It occurred to me because as I'm not a diver, I had difficulties "reading" the shots at first - and then I thought, "Hey, stereo pictures would be great!"

(You'd have to mount two identical cameras side-by-side and trigger them simultaneously, and then find a way to display the pictures stereoscopically, for example with a suitable software and LCD shutter glasses, so it would be quite a project. Still, stereo pictures would give a fantastic sense of being there ... Probably more important for us than for you as you actually were there after all! :-)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
HoHun is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 09:58 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
comiso90's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Fresno, CA
Posts: 1,940
Country:
The Mavis was so huge.. it looks like a ship wreck.

Human life aside.. what could be more fun then running across a Mavis or ME-323?

Yes there were challenges but it's like demolishing a building!

.
__________________
“that can’t be a prop job....it’s got to be one of the 262 jets.”.... James Finnegan.


www.franklinj.com
www.PaperMoneyForum.com


comiso90 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-15-2007, 10:04 PM   #8
IP/Mech THE GREAT GAZOO
 
FLYBOYJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 12,140
Country:
__________________
"IF ITS RED OR DUSTY, DON'T TOUCH IT"
FLYBOYJ is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 02:05 AM   #9
v2
Senior Member
 
v2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Cracow
Posts: 2,793
Country:
Send a message via Skype™ to v2
__________________

"A good fighter pilot, like a good boxer, should have a knockout punch..... You will find one attack you prefer to all others. Work on it till you can do it to perfection... then use it whenever possible."
- Captain Reade Tilley, USAAF 7 Victories, WW-II -
v2 is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 02:29 AM   #10
Junior Member
 
corsairfreak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands
Posts: 19
Country:
Thanks for the compliments guys!

Glad you like the pictures!

HoHun- to answer your question, the idea of stereoscopic pictures had never entered my mind. That would require an additional camera, and they're kinda pricey. Maybe a bit down the road I'll do something like that. For now, I'd have to settle for pasting a couple pictures together side-by-side, such as 2 pictures I took while panning, to create a wide shot. Thanks for the idea! If that would enhance the viewing pleasure for you and everyone else, I'll do what I can.

Aggie08- to answer your question, there are indeed other aircraft wrecks in the area. For photos I've taken of the Japanese ones that I've dived on, check out this link, and look under my name (Dan Farnham) near the top of the page-

Remaining Relic Photos

Also, I've dived on several American planes off Roi-Namur, at the north end of the atoll. I've written a couple of articles on those dives, with more to come. Here's the links to the two articles that I've completed to date-

Large Scale Planes

Large Scale Planes

I recently wrote another on diving three of the Japanese planes out here- the first 'Mavis' I dove, plus a 'Jake' and a 'Rufe'...those galleries appear at the link to J-aircraft.com above. The new one hasn't been published online yet, but I'll provide the link here when it is. I've got three more articles on diving plane wrecks out here in various stages of completion, with plans for 5 or 6 more. So, more to come!

Cheers all!

Dan
corsairfreak is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 04:26 AM   #11
Der Crewchief
 
DerAdlerIstGelandet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Ansbach, Germany
Posts: 28,136
Country:
Very cool. Thanks for posting the pics. I would love to go and experience something like this.
__________________

US Army Blackhawk Crewchief 2000-2006

Classic ww2aircraft.net quotes:

fly boy said: "isn't that the first jet bomber? becasue i have flown one in a flight sim before and i know how it handles"

"wait what ok who made the b-2 crash come on people that messed up its a b-2"

"ah yes the mistel those things are so annoying is games and in real life"
DerAdlerIstGelandet is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 05:01 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 685
Country:
Hi Dan,

>That would require an additional camera, and they're kinda pricey.

I was afraid that would be the case when I saw the "naval" name of your camera :-/ Specialized equipment usually comes at a premium - but from the looks of your photographs, it's worth it

(Thinking about it, a cheap and quick way would be to use two disposable underwater cameras for conventional film, taped into a side-by-side position. Then you could view the result with a simple stereo viewer. Hm, not sure these cameras are available for positive film, though ... and I don't know if there's enough light for these at wreck depths.)

>Maybe a bit down the road I'll do something like that. For now, I'd have to settle for pasting a couple pictures together side-by-side, such as 2 pictures I took while panning, to create a wide shot. Thanks for the idea!

Sounds promising! There is a great free tool for that:

AutoStitch

It just requires you to specify the path to the pictures and the desired output size, the rest is fully automatic, with close to perfect results. Try it, words can't describe how cool it is

(While taking the pictures, you have to generate some overlap between the individual frames and try to keep the horizon in a defined position - not critical for underwater shots. The software doesn't do vertical panoramas, though it will stitch shots taken at an oblique angle up or down to a horizontal panorama.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)
HoHun is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 06:23 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
ToughOmbre's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Jersey Shore
Posts: 1,470
Country:
Awesome

TO
__________________


“Let's get Enterprise and Hornet turned into the wind."
ToughOmbre is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 06:55 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Gnomey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Royal Deeside/St Andrews, Scotland, UK (atm Pretoria, South Africa)
Posts: 10,712
Country:
Send a message via AIM to Gnomey Send a message via MSN to Gnomey
Excellent Pictures!
__________________


"Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
Sir Winston Churchill

"To him the people of the world largely owe the Freedom and liberties they enjoy today"
Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London


Moderator WW2 Talk: A WW2 Discussion Forum
Gnomey is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2007, 07:07 AM   #15
Facetious Extraordinaire
 
Hot Space's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Northampton, UK
Posts: 2,072
Country:
Quote:
Originally Posted by corsairfreak View Post
Glad you like the pictures!

HoHun- to answer your question, the idea of stereoscopic pictures had never entered my mind. That would require an additional camera, and they're kinda pricey. Maybe a bit down the road I'll do something like that. For now, I'd have to settle for pasting a couple pictures together side-by-side, such as 2 pictures I took while panning, to create a wide shot. Thanks for the idea! If that would enhance the viewing pleasure for you and everyone else, I'll do what I can.

Aggie08- to answer your question, there are indeed other aircraft wrecks in the area. For photos I've taken of the Japanese ones that I've dived on, check out this link, and look under my name (Dan Farnham) near the top of the page-

Remaining Relic Photos

Also, I've dived on several American planes off Roi-Namur, at the north end of the atoll. I've written a couple of articles on those dives, with more to come. Here's the links to the two articles that I've completed to date-

Large Scale Planes

Large Scale Planes

I recently wrote another on diving three of the Japanese planes out here- the first 'Mavis' I dove, plus a 'Jake' and a 'Rufe'...those galleries appear at the link to J-aircraft.com above. The new one hasn't been published online yet, but I'll provide the link here when it is. I've got three more articles on diving plane wrecks out here in various stages of completion, with plans for 5 or 6 more. So, more to come!

Cheers all!

Dan
Those are amazing pictures m8

You're a very lucky man to be able to take time out to photograph all these 'War Relics'.

Thanks for posting them and the 2 Links up - amazing read
__________________
Hot Space is offline  
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!Spurl this Post!Reddit! Wong this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.1.0
   

AVIATION TOP 100 - www.avitop.com Avitop.com


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42