wreck rap Edited by Peter Symes Wreck of the B-17F "Black Jack" off Cape Vogel in Papua New Guinea Text and photos by Don Silcock World War II came to the Australian territory of Papua New Guinea in January 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Rabaul in New Britain, followed shortly after by the taking of Kavieng in New Ireland. The invasion turned Papua New Guinea into a major theatre of war in the battle for the Pacific, and there Of Papua New Guinea were many brutal encoun- ters between the invading Japanese and the defend- ing Allied forces. Aircraft Wrecks Conditions were often appalling the New Guinea Campaign. War they came down in remote jungle ter, just off the fringing reef from name from the last two digits of its one, soon after take-off, as both and the fighting was incredibly is of course deadly by nature, but locations or far out at sea. How- the remote village of Boga Boga serial number—a jack and an ace of the right wing engines devel- fierce, with many young lives lost for the pilots and crew of those ever, some aircraft wrecks have on the tip of Cape Vogel, is what is a “blackjack hand" of 21 in the oped problems during the flight on both sides. To this day, relics of aircraft, the rate of attrition was been found. Each one has a spe- many consider to be the best air- card game of Pontoon. over the Owen Stanley range and those battles are part of the fabric particularly high, with many of cial story. Of these, the underwa- craft wreck in Papua New Guinea Black Jack’s final flight was on onwards to New Britain. However, of Papua New Guinea. them shot out of the sky. Some ter aircraft wrecks of Papua New and possibly the world. The wreck 10 July 1943, when it left 7-Mile the pilot, Ralph De Loach, and his World War II was the first time aircraft suffered mechanical fail- Guinea offer us divers a unique is the B-17F "Black Jack", serial Airdrome in Port Moresby just crew of nine managed to reach that air power played a major role ures, while others just got lost and insight into those heroic tales. number 41-24521. It was one of before midnight, on a mission to Rabaul and successfully deliver in combat and both sides had simply ran out of fuel. the first Flying Fortress bombers bomb the heavily fortified Japa- their bombs on target. some formidable aircraft in action The majority of those planes B-17F Black Jack built at the Boeing factory in Seat- nese airfields at Rabaul in New De Loach turned the plane during what is now referred to as have never been found because Lying undisturbed in the deep wa- tle during WWII, which takes its Britain. The flight was a troubled around to return to Port Moresby. 6 X-RAY MAG : 80 : 2017 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Historical photo of Boeing B-17E Flying wreck Fortress, c. 1942 (left); rap Wreck of the B-17F PNG "Black Jack" (far left) which had remained undisturbed for nearly 60 years. William was freediving for sea cucumbers when he noticed what seemed to be a large US AIR FORCE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN shadow on the seabed. Like many people in Papua New Guinea, he was very superstitious and thought that he was looking at a ghost lying face-up, with its arms out- stretched, soaking up the sun. Ter- rified, he shot to the surface and Kimbe Bay’s Zero wreck from Hoskins Airport in Kimbe Bay. the relative safety of his canoe, As the story is told around the bar So, when William saw a plane eventually summoning up enough at Walindi Resort, the day the Zero laying on the sandy sea floor, he courage to go back down to take was found by local villager William thought he had found the wreck- a closer look—realizing that it was Nui, was not long after a small age of the recent crash—not that the wreck of a plane rather than plane had crashed on take-off of a WWII Japanese fighter plane, some demon of the deep. But on the way back, it ran into Boga Boga had told Pennefather it, which later allowed them to a violent storm on approach to that a plane had crashed near positively identify it as the famous the coast of New Guinea to the their reef in WWII and he believed Black Jack. northwest of Cape Nelson, a situ- it might be the Australian Beaufort Diving the Black Jack is a ation the pilot later described as A9, which had crash-landed off unique experience, as the plane “the blackest of black nights… the Cape Vogel in November 1942. is so intact. Sitting as it does on a worst flying weather I’d ever seen Pierce, Johnson and Pennefather sandy seabed in clear blue wa- in my life”. organized an exploration trip on ters with visibility that can easily Running low on fuel, and with Rod Pierce’s liveaboard dive- reach 40m, it is almost like a set two engines malfunctioning boat, MV Barbarian, to search for from a Hollywood movie! The nose badly, De Loach decided against the wreck. is badly crumpled from the im- trying to get over the Owen Stan- Pearce found the wreck when pact of the crash landing and the ley Range to reach Port Moresby he spotted the large tail-plane, as propellers on the four engines are and turned Black Jack southeast he made his way along the edge somewhat twisted, but the rest towards Milne Bay, but was forced of the fringing reef at Boga Boga. of the plane is all there. It is quite to ditch the plane at Boga Boga. As someone who had dedicated a remarkable sight after 73 years The crew survived the crash land- his life to wreck diving, it must underwater. ing and managed to scramble have been like out of the plane before it sank finding the Holy down to the sandy seabed some Grail. Over the 50m below, where it lay largely next few days, forgotten for another 43 years. they dived the The discovery of Black Jack wreck as much as reads like something out of an its depth of nearly adventure novel, with three 50m would allow, Australians—Rod Pierce, Bruce entering the in- Johnson and David Pennefather— side of the plane stumbling on the wreck, almost by and finding the accident, in late December 1986, Radio Call Plate while searching for a completely with the 24521 different wreck. The villagers at serial number on US NAVY / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" fighter, 1941 Wreck of Japanese Navy Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter in Kimbe Bay 7 X-RAY MAG : 80 : 2017 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Wreck of Japanese Navy wreck Mitsubishi "Zero" fighter (left rap and below) PNG who saw the plane come down New Ireland’s “Deep Pete” nificantly expanded the original helped him ashore and took him While Rabaul was Japan’s main Australian-built airfield and set up to the nearby village of Talasea. base along the southern rim of the a sea-plane base, which, when What happened after that re- Pacific, Kavieng in nearby New the tide of war turned, became mains a mystery, but one theory is Ireland also played a significant an important target for the Allied that losing a plane due to naviga- role in the grand Japanese plan forces. There are more known tional errors would have been a for control of New Guinea, to- aircraft wrecks around Kavieng very significant loss of honor, and gether with the isolation and pos- than anywhere else in Papua New Honda, unable to deal with such sible invasion of Australia to the Guinea, and my personal favorite a loss of face, spent the rest of his south. Kavieng’s strategic location is the “Deep Pete” because I think life in the jungles of New Britain. to the north of Rabaul meant that it is the most photogenic. An alternative but slightly more it could be used to protect both The plane is a Mitsubishi F1M gruesome notion (which is very Rabaul and the Japanese supply float-plane, which was designed popular around the bar at Walin- convoys coming down to New and built to be launched by cata- di) is that he ended up as the Guinea from Japan and the huge pult from battleships, cruisers and main course of a ceremonial feast Imperial Navy base at Truk La- aircraft tenders and used for re- for a head-hunting tribe—a prac- goon in the central Pacific. connaissance missions. However, it tice still common in those days. At Kavieng, the Japanese sig- also saw service as an impromptu William took his story to the local authorities and word of the dis- covery made it to Max Benjamin, the owner of Walindi Plantation Dive Resort, who although some- what doubtful about its veracity, felt that it should be checked out. What Max found was a WWII Mitsubishi Zero in quite remarkable condition despite its six decades underwater. There were no signs of bul- let holes or combat damage to indicate that the plane had been shot down, rather the “off” posi- tion of the throttle lever and the pitch control set to reduce air speed clearly pointed to a con- trolled crash landing.