Wreck of the Japanese battleship Musashi

The Musashi

The Musashi was the second in the Yamato class of World War II battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched on November 1, 1940, she, along with her sister ship Yamato, were recognized as the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships of their time. She was commissioned as the Musashi on August 5, 1942, being named after the ancient Japanese province of the same name.

The battleship’s career lasted from her commissioning in 1942 until her sinking in 1944. She had been part of various operations and campaigns against the Allied forces during the Second World War. On February 11, 1943, she became the flagship of the Combined Fleet, replacing her sister ship, the Yamato. And on October 18, 1944, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita engaged in Operation Sho-Go with a powerful surface fleet including both the Yamato and the Musashi. They sailed into the Sibuyan Sea, where the Musashi would meet its demise.

The Sinking of the Musashi

The battleship was sunk on October 24, 1944, killing just under half her crew. Musashi was able to bring down 18 American aircraft, but a series of attacks from American TBF/TBM Avenger and Helldiver aircraft yielded a total of 19 torpedos and 17 bomb hits during the Battle of Sibuyan Sea, one of the engagements in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On April 7, 1945, her sister ship Yamato also sank, the victim of an American air raid during Operation Ten-Go. Five months later, Japan surrendered, ending the war.

Earlier attempts and plans

On October 24, 2006, Gen. Dominador Resos, Jr. (Ret), President of the Romblon Cultural Heritage Association, Inc. (ROCHAI), spearheaded The Commemoration of the Battle of Sibuyan Sea to honor the men who perished during the battle and to recognize the peace that the men had fought for. The event had become an annual multinational commemoration. It was reported that two years later, in 2008, Resos Jr. was in talks with Japanese personalities who were interested in locating the then-undiscovered remains of the Musashi. Believing that it had sunk in one piece, they had plans of refloating her, towing her to a nearby island, and converting her into a war museum. However, the discovery of the wreck and the Musashi's scattered remains in 2015 would prove that this feat can never be realized.

Discovery of the wreck

During the more than 70 years since its sinking, various attempts have been made by shipwreck hunters to locate the wreck of the Japanese battleship but none of them succeeded. The Musashi, like other Japanese warships, did not have its name on its sides, thereby making it more difficult for divers and shipwreck hunters to find her. The research team sponsored by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen eventually found her after eight years of searching for the wreck, going through various historical records in different countries, and deploying the high-tech yacht Octopus and a remotely operated vehicle to aid them in their search. Allen announced in March 2015 that the team had indeed found the Musashi under the Sibuyan Sea in the Philippines, some 3,000 feet beneath the surface.

The ship had been known to have sunk in one piece but exploded only once it was underwater. This explains the scattered debris across the ocean floor. In the live streaming video tour conducted by the expedition team, a mount for the seal of the Imperial Japanese Navy - a chrysanthemum made out of teak, long rotted away - can be seen amid the debris. The video also showed damage made by US torpedoes, including a warped bow and hits under the ship's main gun. Other items found in the area of the wreck, as well as other features found in it led maritime experts to claim with 90% certainty that the wreck was the Musashi.

To further confirm that the wreck was indeed the Musashi, Shigeru Nakajima, an electrical technician on the Musashi who claimed that he had survived by jumping overboard after the order to abandon ship, told the Associated Press that he was "certain" of the wreck's identification upon seeing its anchor and the imperial seal mount. He also expressed his gratitude to the expedition team for having found the shipwreck.

Issues and controversies

The discovery of the wreck beneath the surface of the Sibuyan Sea raised issues when the local government of Romblon (which has jurisdiction over the area where the wreck was found), through Gov. Eduardo Firmalo stated that while he welcomed the discovery of the ship, the provincial government, and even the Philippine Coast Guard, were not aware that Allen and his team had an ongoing expedition in the area. In response to this, the Philippine Coast Guard also stated that foreign-owned vessels need clearance from the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department, the Customs Bureau, and the Immigration Bureau before they can enter Philippine waters.

Although the discovery of the shipwreck is very important to the Japanese people because of the presence of more than 1000 Japanese sailors' remains aboard the ship, the National Museum of the Philippines supported the Romblon Government by giving a statement - "Any further activity (pertaining to the shipwreck) shall be governed by established rules and regulations." It pointed out that the wreck site of Musashi, as stated by the law, is considered an archaeological site under the Philippine territory's jurisdiction, and it is “now giving priority to verifying the discovery, obtaining and sharing key information, facilitating the protection and preservation of the site, and formulating appropriate next steps."