For the first time in eight decades, explorers have pictured a Japanese aircraft carrier sunk during World War II‘s Battle of Midway. 

Japan‘s aircraft carrier Akagi was pictured for the first time since it disappeared under the water in 1942 during the battle that helped during the Pacific campaign in America’s favor.  

‘This expedition is not only rewriting history and our understanding of these special places, but also pushing the limits of what we thought was possible in terms of interdisciplinary collaboration,’ said Daniel Wagner, chief scientist for Ocean Exploration Trust. 

The trust led the exploration efforts from September 8 to September 12 to photograph the Akagi along with other vessels sunken during the pivotal battle that saw 3,000 Japanese fighters perish. 

The group also surveyed in detail the USS Yorktown, which was the lone US carrier sunk during Midway and not found until 25 years ago. 

The Battle of Midway began on June 4, 1942, and lasted until the 7th. The naval campaign has gone down in US lore for its ability to flip the momentum in America’s favor. 

Four Japanese aircraft carriers -including the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu – were sunk along with a heavy cruiser. The Americans lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammmann. 

The loss of the four carriers by Japan proved difficult to overcome. The Imperial Empire also lost well-trained pilots in the battle. Meanwhile, America’s industrial capabilities grew allowing it to replace the losses. 

In total, Japan lost more than 3,000 men during the fight. The US lost only 362,  

The sunken ships were lost to the sea for years, until deep-sea explorers helped find some of the ships. 

The Akagi was found in 2019, but this month’s exploration marked the first complete survey of the vessel. 

Japanese aircraft carriers – the Soryu and Hiryu – and the cruiser Mikuma are still unaccounted for.

The USS Yorktown was discovered three miles below the surface in May 1998 The USS Yorktown was discovered 25 years ago in May 1998 during a joint US Navy and National Geographic Society expedition led by Robert Ballard, the founder of Ocean Exploration Trust, in conjunction with the Navy.

For the most recent exploration, remote-controlled vehicles were utilized to capture images of the shipwrecks with  the mission involving more than 100 experts from various countries who ‘helped guide the mission and providing valuable real-time interpretations throughout the surveys.’ 

The expedition team also conducted ‘non-invasive visual surveys’ of the wrecks during three deployments at depths exceeding 16,700 feet – the deepest remotely operated vehicle dive ever completed by the Exploration Vessel Nautilus.

‘On this occasion, we meet on those same Pacific waters in which Japan and the U.S. once met in battle, but this time as allies and fellow researchers,’ said Kosei Nomura, Minister, Head of Economic Section, Embassy of Japan. 

‘We are reminded that today’s peace and tomorrow’s discoveries are built on the sacrifices of war, and so in my view, it is meaningful that Japan and the U.S. are now deepening their cooperation at Midway, utilizing such cutting-edge technology.’

‘During over 43 hours at depth, we methodically circumnavigated these historic wrecks, bringing to light many features in great detail, including their armament, battle, and sinking-related damage,’ said Daniel Wagner, the chief scientist for the Ocean Exploration Trust. 

The wrecks were meticulously examined and included looking for damage related to battles they fought and their subsequent and sinking. 

‘Many anti-aircraft guns were still pointing up, providing clues about the final moments on these iconic ships,’ Wagner explained.

Each dive ended with poignant ceremonies paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Midway. 

Frank Thompson, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C., who is onboard the Petrel said: ‘We read about the battles, we know what happened. But when you see these wrecks on the bottom of the ocean and everything, you kind of get a feel for what the real price is for war.

‘You see the damage these things took, and it’s humbling to watch some of the video of these vessels because they’re war graves.’ 

Retired Navy Capt. Jack Crawford, who died in April 2022 at the age of 103, was among the Yorktown’s 2,270 survivors.

Japanese dive bombers left the Yorktown badly damaged, with black smoke gushing from its stacks, but the vessel was still upright. Then the torpedoes hit, Crawford recounted in an interview about the battle.

‘Bam! Bam! We get two torpedoes, and I know we’re in trouble. As soon as the deck edge began to go under, I knew . she wasn’t going to last,’ said Crawford, whose later military career was with the naval nuclear propulsion program.

The Yorktown sank slowly, and a destroyer was able to pick up Crawford and many others.

‘An important part of our mission here at the Naval History and Heritage Command is to locate, interpret, and protect lost U.S. Navy ships and aircraft, particularly those that represent the last resting place of American sailors,’ said Samuel Cox, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, and one of the explorers to photograph the Yorktown during the recent mission.

The entire exploration of the Midway ships was streamed live in real-time, giving the public its first chance to see the vessels along with researchers. 

The surveys were non-invasive at about 16,600 feet below the surface. 

It is illegal to otherwise disturb the underwater US military gravesites, and their exact coordinates are kept secret. The battle was found about 1,000 miles from Hawaii at about the halfway point between Japan and the US. 

The exploration effort involved more than 100 experts from US, Japan and across the globe.

The goal of the exploration was to help document and assess the important site for both America and Japan. 

During the battle, American forces broke Japan’s naval code and prepare for a counter attack. That allowed the US the upper hand in what became a turning point in the war. 

A Russian pilot tried to shoot down an RAF surveillance plane over the Black Sea because he mistakenly thought he had permission, it has emerged. 

The pilot of the SU-27 fighter jet fired two missiles at the RAF RC-135 Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft on September 29 last year, with the first missing the British plane rather than malfunctioning as was claimed by Russia at the time. 

At the time, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged the incident, telling Parliament that two Russian jets ‘recklessly’ came within 15ft of the RAF plane – with a crew of up to 30 – and one ‘released a missile in the vicinity’.

Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu blamed a ‘technical malfunction’ and Wallace, having spoken with other Russian defence officials, accepted the explanation and drew a line under the incident.

But now, three senior Western defence sources with knowledge of the incident have told the BBC that Russian communications that were intercepted by the RAF surveillance plane show that one of the Russian pilots thought he had been given permission to target the British aircraft.

This was after he received an ambiguous command from a Russian ground station that was along the lines of ‘you have the target’, one Western source said.

While the first pilot took this as an order to fire at the RAF reconnaissance plane, the second pilot thought the opposite and swore at his comrade when he fired his first air-to-air missile, which came perilously close to the British spy aircraft.

The missile had been successfully launched but failed to lock onto the plane, the sources said, meaning that it was a very near miss – rather than a ‘technical malfunction’ as Russia had claimed.  

Had a Russian missile blown Rivet Joint out of the sky over the Black Sea, the UK and its NATO allies may have been compelled to war.

According to Article 5 of the founding treaty of NATO, member nations agree that an armed attack against one or more of them ‘shall be considered an attack against them all’.

If such an attack does occur, each NATO member will assist the country that has been attacked with any action ‘it deems necessary’.

Defence sources told the BBC that the second Russian pilot shouted at his comrade and swore at him after he released his first air-to-air missile. But despite this, the first pilot still released another missile. 

The second missile fell from the wing, suggesting that the weapon either malfunctioned or the launch was aborted, the sources said. 

The RAF regularly flies sorties over the Black Sea’s international waters, as well the Baltics and eastern Poland, to gather intelligence.  

The role of the Rivet Joint aircraft is to hoover up electronic transmissions and communications – the plane is also known as a ‘nuke-sniffer’ for its ability to detect radioactivity. 

The Ministry of Defence said it will not release details of the intercepted communications.

An MoD spokespersons said in response to the new revelations: ‘Our intent has always been to protect the safety of our operations, avoid unnecessary escalation and inform the public and international community.’ 

British and US aircraft continued to conduct these reconnaissance flights after the hair-raising incident in September, but RAF surveillance aircraft are now escorted by Typhoon fighters while the US resorts to the use of unmanned surveillance drones.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in March that it is important to keep the Black Sea and the skies over it open to all nations. 

‘The Black Sea is a critical international seaway supporting many of our Nato allies, including Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and does not belong to any one country,’ he said.

Ryder’s comments came after yet another aerial incident in which Russian jets dumped fuel on and ultimately crashed into a US surveillance drone in March.

Drone footage showed the shocking moment Moscow’s Su-27 jet approached the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from behind and clipped its propeller over international airspace on March 14.

US forces had to bring down the $32million surveillance drone in international waters after the encounter, sparking a race between Moscow and Washington to recover it.

Russian ships were spotted at the crash site on March 15 trying to find the debris, though the Pentagon insisted the parts could not be retrieved and any intelligence had been wiped.

Moscow insisted its jet did not make contact with the drone, and instead blamed ‘sharp maneuvering’ for the crash.

But experts say it was likely an accidental clash as Russian pilots adopted increasingly aggressive tactics to force the drone to change course.

This is a breaking news story, more to follow…  

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated: 12:13 EDT, 4 September 2023

Senior doubles dividend but logistics woes weigh on aircraft parts maker

• Senior supplies aircraft parts to companies including Boeing and Rolls-Royce 
• It saw sales grow by around £80m to £482.3m for the first six months of 2023
• The firm benefited from higher energy prices and sustained growth in air travel

By Harry Wise For This Is Money

Updated: 09:25 EDT, 31 July 2023

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