Planewrecks off the coast of Darwin
Not only ships were damaged in the attack by the Japanese on 19 February 1942, but also al lot of planes were destroyed.
Catalina A24-205
On a good day, when the visibility is reasonable, in Darwin Harbour you can go and explore the wreck of the Catalina A24-205. This airplane crashed just after take-off somewhere in late 1942. The nose of this Catalina has broken off and one of the wings lies in pieces underneath the plane wreck, but it's still possible to sit in the pilot's seat and move the controls.
A65-115
- A65-115
The A6-115 lies in 18 metres of water on a sandy bottom. At first it looks like the right wing is missing, but it appears to be buried under the sand. The left wing, propeller and engine are intact and in very good condition. Because of the impact of the crash the cockpit caught fire and is missing because of that. The tail of the plane is still intact and shows a particular design configuration which allowed experts to confirm it was the wreck of a C47, which then lead to the determination of the A65-115. A C-47B had a length from nose to tail of 20 metres and a wingspan of 29 metres. This plane is in good condition and is quite intact compared to other plane wrecks in the Northern Territory. This wreck is protected under the Heritage Conservation Act.
Source: http://nt.gov.au/nreta
B25 bomber
On a depth of 7 meter lies the wreck of B52 bomber that exploded into flames on 19 February 1942 during the attack of the Japanese on Darwin. You can still explore the engines and some of the framework, but the rest of the plane is all gone. This is a nice dive with quite a long bottom time because that water is pretty shallow. There are also some bommies covered with coral which play host to several species of tropical reef fish.
