Stan Gajda - Makin

Makin Atoll

Stan Gajda

Makin (Butaritari)
When the battle of Makin Island was over the US built an airstrip there and operated B-24s and B-25s out to the Marshalls. There is also a lot of B-24 stuff around but no substantial wreckage ashore. There is one in the lagoon but I never found it myself.

Japanese Seaplanes
When the Japanese occupied Makin, they operated Mavis and Emily seaplanes from Makin Lagoon. I have dived on two Mavis and two Emily wrecks.

H6K Mavis
Sunk in Makin Lagoon

H8K Emily
Sunk in Makin Lagoon

Pig Pen made of F4U wings

Japanese Barge

Stan Gajda

Wreck diving in the lagoon. Here we are looking at a Jap work barge and we have just recovered one of the two anchors from it. This one was a snorkel job in only 15 feet of water.

15 feet

F4U Wreck
There is a fairly complete F4U in the lagoon reef about half a mile off shore east of Kings wharf. The tail has been ripped off and the engine is gone (its ashore) I found another F4U east of that again when I was snorkeling around the wreck of a B-25 that went into the lagoon during the war. There are also numerous large bits of Corsairs on the island.

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