Rare Photos: U.S. Navy Seaplane Lost in Pearl Harbor

NOAA and University of Hawaii archaeologists have released rare images of a U.S. Navy airplane sunk during the opening minutes of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Oahu on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.

Minutes before attacking Pearl Harbor, Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft bombed the nearby U.S. Naval Air Station on the east coast of Oahu. Twenty-seven Catalina PBY "flying boats" on the ground or moored on K?ne?ohe Bay were destroyed, and six others were damaged. The strike on the seaplane base was a significant loss for the U.S. military, as these long-range patrol bombers could have followed the Japanese planes back to their carriers.

In 1994, K?ne?ohe Bay's murky waters thwarted a University of Hawaii dive team's attempt to photograph the wreck of a Catalina PBY-5. A second effort in 2008 by a local sport diving group, Hawaii Underwater Explorers, also had limited success.

In June, with better visibility and using improved camera equipment, a team of students from the University of Hawaii Marine Option Program returned to the wreck and conducted a detailed archaeological survey. The student effort was coordinated by Hans Van Tilburg, a maritime archaeologist with NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This latest effort also produced the first systematic photo and video documentation of the entire site.

Van Tilburg said while the precise identity of the aircraft remains unknown, it is possible the crew died while attempting to take off in the face of the attack. The plane, which rests in three large pieces at a depth of 30 feet, is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which prohibits unauthorized disturbance of military vessels or planes owned by the U.S. government, as well as foreign sunken military craft that lie within U.S. waters.

"The new images and site plan help tell the story of a largely forgotten casualty of the attack," Van Tilburg said. "The sunken PBY plane is a very important reminder of the Day of Infamy, just like the USS Arizona and USS Utah. They are all direct casualties of December 7."