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(All photos courtesy: Air/Sea Heritage Foundation)A team of maritime and aviation preservation groups has launched an effort to recover and conserve a rare World War 11-era U.S. Navy torpedo bomber that has been on the ocean floor for more than eight decades.
The initiative, called the Devastator Rising project, brings together the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, Texas Aandamp;M University Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation, the Republic of Marshall Islands Cultural and Historic Preservation Office, local officials and traditional leaders, and the Naval History and Heritage Command.
It took two decades of research, field work, documentation, and evaluation to determine that the BuNo 1515, in the waters of Jaluit Lagoon in the Republic of Marshall Islands, was the best candidate for recovery, according to the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on aviation and maritime historic sites.
The Douglas TBD-1 Devastator has been submerged in the lagoon since February 1942. The Devastator holds a significant place in U.S naval aviation history as the first all-metal, low-wing, torpedo bomber in the Navy, playing critical roles in the early months of World War II and in the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.
BuNo 1515 launched from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) and was forced to ditch in the Jaluit Lagoon. All three aviators survived the emergency landing but were later captured by Japanese forces and held as prisoners of war until their liberation in 1945.
There were 129 TBD-1 aircraft. To date, none have ever been preserved in museums or private collections. They all remain on the ocean floor.
Organizers of the Devastator Rising project said the plan is to raise the Devastator from the ocean, clean it, and put it on display at the new National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C. They said the recovered aircraft will illustrate the early history of the U.S. naval aviation and serve as a lasting tribute to the service and sacrifice of Navy aviators during World War II.RELATED ARTICLES:Last flying WWII-era Douglas A-20 Havoc crashes during airshow, injuring pilot90 years later and the DC-3 still soarsCapital Wing Tour bringing WWII warbirds to 9 states