This
analysis was undertaken to help ascertain the point of origin
of a piece of wreckage recently discovered by Nauticos. It is
believed that this artifact originated from a Japanese aircraft
carrier sunk at the Battle of Midway. In order to help identify
the artifact’s origin, a thorough examination of each of
the three carriers believed sunk in the general vicinity of the
wreckage find—the Akagi, Kaga, and Sôryû—was
undertaken to correlate the undersea photographic evidence with
known characteristics of these three warships. Extensive usage
was made of both English-language and Japanese sources in support
of this effort.
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The
results of the analysis demonstrate conclusively that the wreckage
originated from the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga. Specifically,
it is composed of two 25mm anti-aircraft gun tubs, and their associated
gallery structures, that were located on the forward end of the
starboard aft (starboard quarter) machine gun gallery of the vessel.
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The
second portion of the analysis, which deals with the circumstances
surrounding how and when the wreckage was created, is less conclusive.
The gaps in the historic record concerning Kaga’s demise are
large, and it is impossible to pinpoint the exact time when the wreckage
may have broken off from the ship. Nevertheless, we believe that the
event probably occurred sometime between U.S.S. Nautilus’ attack
on the ship (at 1400), and her abandonment at 1640. |
