Hi again everyone,
I was able to do two more dives on the
Akibasan Marushipwreck. As I mentioned previously, I still needed to explore cargo holds 3 and 4, and finish exploring cargo hold 1.
Yesterday afternoon, one of my dive partners, John Hadley, and I went out and did the two dives. On dive #1, we looked into cargo holds 3 and 4. On the second dive, we looked into the rest of cargo hold 1, plus did some photographing of the shipwreck itself. We found no additional aircraft parts of any kind in holds 3 and 4, and no other parts in the rest of hold 1.
So, here's the final summary-
Cargo hold 1
Level 1- a set of 'Glen' wings
no other aircraft parts in this hold
Cargo hold 2
Level 1- several floats ID'd by experts (i.e., NOT ME!
) as 'Glen' floats
Bottom of the well- two 'Glen' fuselages, plus two metal prop blades
Cargo holds 3, 4, and 5
No aircraft parts of any type in these holds
Cargo hold 6
Level 1- a set of 'Glen' wings
No other aircraft parts in this hold
The E14Y1 had a two-blade wooden prop. Those two prop blades are definitely metal- I lightly tapped on one with the butt of my dive knife.
So, it raises an interesting question...what type of plane do those props go to? Other Japanese plane types that I've dived on out here are two H6K's, an F1M2, a E13A1, a A6M2 Type 21, and now of course the two Glens. There were also Rufes out here, Bettys, and other types I can't think of off-hand.
I think it would be interesting to sit down and look at some profiles, and see if I can't come up with a match for those prop blades. I'll do that when I get a chance.
All for now. Cheers all!
Dan