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| USAAF 5th AF |
Aircraft History Built by Republic. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) P-47D Thunderbolt serial number unknown. Disassembled and shipped overseas to Australia and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force to an unknown unit. No known nickname or markings. Mission History This P-47 ditched off Local Island (Manubada), about a mile south of the southern coast of New Guinea off 3-Mile Drome (Kila Kila) near Joyce Bay. To date, the pilot and serial number of this aircraft is unknown and it is believed to have been a non-fatal ditching. Likely, this P-47 took off sometime between the the middle of 1943 or sometime in 1944 on a local flight or non-combat mission and experienced a mechanical problem forcing it to ditch into the sea. Possibly, this was a new aircraft or one repaired by a service squadron. Afterwards, the pilot was likely rescued and returned to duty. Wreckage This P-47 is fully intact and rests on a sandy bottom at a depth of 10-12m. This aircraft was known to local fisherman. During 2002, this aircraft was first dived by a pair of visiting pastors and reported to the local diving community. Since then, often SCUBA dived by visitors and respected as a site with nothing removed. Justin Taylan adds: "I dove this spectacular wreck in July 2004. It lies on a sloping coral wall and sandy bottom. It has little marine growth on it. Interesting, that the fabric surfaces are still present, and the cockpit hatch still open as the pilot last left it." References Thanks to Walt Deas and John Miller / The Dive Centre for additional information Contribute
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