WWII aircraft wing I found tonight!

[Wrath1]

I was walking the reef tonight and came across this wing that was exposed due to erosion! It wasn't there a few months ago!

Can anyone identify it? American, Japanese? It's located on the island of Roi-Namur, Republic of the Marshall Islands.

 

[twoeagles]

That's pretty cool ! Give us an idea of the size here - rivet patterns
remind me of Douglas designs like the Dauntless. Were you able to lift
it or turn it over?

 

[FLYBOYJ]

On the opposite side was it painted green or do you see any letters or numbers? Example "24T."

 

[Wrath1]

I tried to lift it but, it wouldn't budge. Its rather large too! Much larger than me, if that means anything.

I'll try to go back and get a picture where the size can be calculated. I'll also go and look for any numbers or letters.

 

[Gnomey]

Try clearing some more of the sand of the wing to give a better idea of it and any markings it might have on it.

 

[syscom3]

heres an aerial shot of Roi-Namur.


Wrath, any chance you can go to the island where the Prinz Eugen is scuttled just off the shore?

 

[Wrath1]

I work the night shift, so I've got 12 hours to "mess around"!

I've attached two other pics. The first should be a Bomb Release plate from a WWII plane I found a few months ago.

The second is a WWII M1 clip. This place is littered with all kinds of things!

 

[Wrath1]

heres an aerial shot of Roi-Namur.


Wrath, any chance you can go to the island where the Prinz Eugen is scuttled just off the shore?

I'm sure I could work something out, why?

 

[syscom3]

Think you could go out there and at low tide, take some pics of it?

There are some members here that are also enthusiests for the german warships.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I deffinatly would love to see pics of the Eugen.

What do you do on the Island Wrath?

 

[zuluecho]

great find Wrath1! make sure you post when you find out what it came from!

 

[lesofprimus]

Excellent stuff wrath....

 

[R-2800]

WOW! nice find wish i found stuff like that

 

[HealzDevo]

I wonder, could it be a Consolidated B-24 Liberator? Would they have been based at that island I wonder... It would have to be late War perhaps, 1944 or later because the photo looks like the wing is clean aluminium...

 

[Wildcat]

Hey cool! Avenger perhaps?

 

[syscom3]

I bet it was from an SBD dive bomber. I understand quite a few were dumped off the islands when the war ended.

 

[Wrath1]

Think you could go out there and at low tide, take some pics of it?

There are some members here that are also enthusiests for the german warships.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

I will try to get to it but, I'm up on Roi and Kwaj is about 50 miles away. I know exactly what ship you are talking about. I've been there before a few years ago. Did you know that ship has been the sight of a few deaths out here? Some divers went inside and made a mistake This was a while ago though.

 

[Wrath1]

Ok, I went back tonight and took some more pics. I also forwarded a picture to our archeologist who is looking into what plane this is from.

Picture 1: I took this to give you some kind of view of how big the wing is. The only thing I could think of was the can I was drinking from.

Picture 2: This is standing over the wing looking at a part that moves up and down. Thought someone may recognize this??

Picture 3: This is the only part I could find numbers or letters on. It says "29w5872-7"

Picture 4: This is inside the wing. The thing is full of sand making it heavy as hell. The tide was coming in so I didn't have the time to try to dig it out some to look under it. That's a project for another night.

Hope you guys like the pictures. I'll update what I know when the archeologist gets back to me.

Oh, I work for the Police Department out here. Someone asked above. If interested you can visit my Flickr photos from out here.

 

[Wildcat]

From the photos there appears to be very little corrosion which is quite remarkable. I wonder if the rest of the plane is buried underneath or nearby?

 

[Wrath1]

I've found that things burried in sand like this tend to erode at a much slower rate than in dirt or on the bottom of the ocean. If you look at the SAT pic of Roi, the spot is about in the middle of the shore line on the west side of the island.