Jake Seaplane wreck (Palau)
During our BrotherDive trip to Palau in 2022, met an American diver Brett Eldridge. Together with Brett we dived the wreck of a The Aichi E13A (aka ‘Jake’) Seaplane.
Brett is an enthusiastic wreck divers and experienced in making photogrammetry models. He shot hundreds of photos of the wreck during our dive.
The fabulous result can be seen here!
Jake Seaplane wreck (Palau)
In preparation for World War II, Japan established two seaplane bases in Palau. One of them served the long-range four-engined amphibious aircraft Kawanishi H8K (codename Emily). It was housed where the Palau Pacific Resort stands today, and a snorkelling shop has been built on its former taxiway. To the south of this base, there was the second depot: Meyuns Sea Plane Ramp Resort. The seaplanes Aichi E13A (Jake) were based here.
It was Jake which found its last refuge in the waters of Palau. This all-metal hydroplane had been in production from 1938 to 1945 and was intended for long-range reconnaissance. It was 11.3 m long with a wingspan of 14.5 m. An engine with a capacity of 1,080 HP allowed it to reach a speed of up to 375 km/h. Its rear cockpit housed a machine gun used for self-defence, and in addition, it could carry on board a crew of three men and 250 kg of bombs.
Now it lies on a “carpet” of corals, at a depth of 15 meters. Most likely, it fell into the water at the time of landing approach or during takeoff due to an engine stop. This is evidenced by the state of the propellers: if they worked, they would lose their original shape upon impact with the water.
During our BrotherDive trip to Palau in 2022, met an American diver Brett Eldridge. Together with Brett we dived the wreck of the Aichi E13A (aka ‘Jake’) Seaplane.
Brett is an enthusiastic wreck divers and experienced in making photogrammetry models. He shot hundreds of photos of the wreck during our dive.
The fabulous result can be seen here!
Click on the 3D model below to move it around
All credits to the above Photogrammetry model goes out to Brett Eldridge
The story & the dive
The following information is copied from Brett’s website: “Wrecked in my rEvo”
The Aichi E13A Seaplane was a long-range reconnaissance seaplane with more than 1400 built.
It had a crew of three and cold carry bomb payloads up to 550 pounds. The E13A made the initial reconnaissance survey of Pearl Harbor before the attack. It was a very versatile aircraft that allowed it to perform multiple roles including air-sea rescue, anti-submarine, anti-shipping, bombing, convoy escort, liaison, patrol, transport, and the primary role of reconnaissance.
Some of the key characteristics are:
- 11.2 meter long, Wingspan of 14.5 meter
- Powered by a Mitsubishi 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine
- Three blade propeller
- Rearward firing 7.7mm Type 92 machine gun (you can see it in the picture)
- 4 x 132lb bombs/depth charges
The Allied nickname for the plane was “Jake.”
The wreck
There were two primary Japanese seaplane operating bases in Koror. The first was for the larger “Emily” and is now the location of the Pacific Palau Resort in Ngerekabesang (which is where I stayed). You can still see remnants of the tie-downs. The second was at Meyuns and was the home to the Jake Seaplanes.
Given that the props are not bent and the location of the wreck, the theory is that the seaplane crashed when the engine stalled during either take-off or landing from the Meyuns seaplane base. It would be almost impossible for the prop blades to be straight if they were turning when the airplane hit the water.
One of the most amazing things I noticed about this wreck is how the coral has “taken over” the plane.
It is basically embedded into the coral growth at this point. The engine is broken off from the fuselage with various bits and pieces of the airplane strewed about. The plane sits at an angle of about 30 degrees with the port wing slanted up. The port side float is still intact while the tail section and the starboard float ar about 20 feet away almost completely obfuscated by coral growth.
If you are into airplane wrecks, it is a very fun and easy wreck to dive. There are also a lot of nudibranch and other sea creatures in and on the airplane and surrounding coral.
The Photogrammetry Model
I had the goal to build the model when I started the dive. However, I had done two dives previously and didn’t change the memory card out. I also wanted to get some still photos for the blog post. I ran out of room on the card and didn’t quite get enough photos of the underside of the port side wing that sticks up into the water. However, the model turned out reasonably well. Below are screenshots and a link to the on-line model.
Here are some “static” screenshots of the model from Metashape
