Scripps finds WWII torpedo bomber off Palau

An American torpedo bomber lost during World War II has been found off the Pacific nation of Palau by researchers from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The TBM-1C Avenger, missing since July 1944, was the sixth aircraft discovered since 2012 through Project Recover, an effort by Scripps and its collaborators to locate planes and human remains along the remote island chain.

Palau was the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting during World War II, notably the Battle of Peleliu. More than 2,300 people were killed and more than 8,400 wounded in 1944 when American forces fought the Japanese for control of the island of Peleliu.

The latest plane discovery arose from numerous searches conducted during many years by the project, which is a public-private partnership involving Scripps, the University of Delaware, the BentProp Project and the Coral Reef Research Foundation.

“(We) used underwater robots equipped with sidescan sonar and other sensors,” said Scripps researcher Eric Terrill, one of the project’s leaders. “I planned the robotic survey missions around our team’s analysis of archival research (declassified surveillance photos from day of loss, after-action reports, interviews of vets by BentProp).”

Then “in-water research by our collective team over the last two months identified the type of plane, and details were recently provided to the U.S. government,” which is responsible for the recovery of remains, Terrill said.

Following past protocol, Project Recover wouldn’t disclose whether human remains were found along with the sunken aircraft.

The Avenger was a vital American torpedo bomber during World War II, tapped for a wide range of uses — from the Battle of Guadalcanal to the sinking of enemy submarines.