A shocking discovery made by researchers over the weekend was located in a mysterious military vehicle located three miles underwater on the WWI Yorktown, aboard the WWI shipwreck.
NOAA Ocean Explorer I said Part of the Battle of Midway aircraft – a showdown between the US and Japanese navy in the Pacific in 1942 – was discovered in a watery tomb.
“A previous exploration in Midway investigated the vessels engaged in combat, but the diving on April 20th resulted in the extraordinary discovery of aircraft fought on Midway lying underwater on a real battlefield,” the agency said in a press release this week.
According to NOAA, the remotely controlled vehicle used during the dive identified “muddy remains” of at least three Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers in the AFT Starboard quarter.
One of the aircraft was fully armed with a bomb attached to the release cradle. It likely was part of Yorktown’s reserve forces on the first morning of the battle, officials said.
Another plane with the “B5” written on its fuselage is suspected to be a Buno 4581 assigned to Bombing Company 6 by USS Enterprise.
USS Yorktown cited records to retrieve two enterprise aircraft that were damaged in an attack on Japanese Navy carrier Kaga. The plane moved to the hangar deck before setting it on fire when a Japanese underwater missile slammed the ship.
Further investigation is needed to determine whether the 6-B-5 is one of Yorktown’s enterprise aircraft.
Multiple planar wings, perhaps, of the spares, were also captured by the camera from a remotely operated vehicle. One of the wings was first discovered during the 2023 expedition.
A hand-painted mural called “USS Yorktown Cruise Charts” has been discovered further within the elevator shaft that tracked the large ship’s voyages, NOAA said.
The artwork was 12 feet every 42 feet, only partially visible in historical photographs focusing on others and subjects when Yorktown was still sailing.
The incredible discovery was coupled with the discovery of an old Ford car on board the ship when it was sunk.
