Sunken floatplane

[CJGibson]

Morning all,

Any idea what this is?

Chris

 

[Hood]

Where was the photo taken?

My hunch was an Aichi E13A but I'm not sure the float struts match up correctly.

 

[CJGibson]

I'm not saying as I think the (alleged) location might colour your judgement.

Chris

 

[Arjen]

I'm guessing Arado Ar 196

 

[AeroFranz]

Arjen, the shape of the cowling and the arrangement of the struts between the pontoons looks different. Granted, the plant growth distorts things quite a bit, so i could be wrong. I'm going to say it's a pre-war type (?). i thought it could be a Northrop N-3B but the float supports look different.

 

[Arjen]

It's the square appearance of the windscreen, its size, its relative postion to the engine cowling and the wing's leading edge - which shows a bulge which also appears on the Ar 196. Underwater growths will change the appearance of stuff. Like Hood with his Aichi hunch, I'm not sure whether the pontoon struts are in the right position.

Basically, I saw the image and immediately thought - Arado.

 

[CJGibson]

'Basically, I saw the image and immediately thought - Arado.' - golden rule of aircraft recognition.

That was my thinking as well, but the struts do look different. Perhaps a couple of the struts have been lost.

Chris

 

[GTX]

My hunch was an Aichi E13A but I'm not sure the float struts match up correctly.

I have seen the same photo reported an E13A, though I too have doubts about it. It could be a Ar196 that has just had its shape altered by growth over the years. Another option might be a Yokosuka E14Y1.

 

[Arjen]

Any side view available? Or location?
That should settle it.
<edit> I've done an image search, and the same image shows up on several sites.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/war-wrecks-of-the-coral-seas-introduction/2759/
https://www.oceanfdn.org/blog/underwater-cultural-heritage-world-war-ii
Most of them connect the wreck with the Coral Sea. That sort of rules out the Arado. As Hood suggests, possibly an Aichi E13A1. Or Greg's alternative, a Yokosuka E14Y1.
The absence of pontoon connecting struts - Aichi E13A1.
There is one image collection on pinterest that puts it somewhere else
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294915475577281850/?from_navigate=true
- the North Sea. Arado, then?

 

[CJGibson]

Right...that photo was sent to me by my missus who said that it had been posted on Facebook as coming from a WW2 U-boat base in the Aegean.

My first impression (with the Aegean in mind) was Arado Ar 196, but something nagged at me that it just didn't match an Ar 196.

I tend to favour the Aichi A13A1, mainly because any wreck at that apparent depth in the North Sea would have been wrecked by trawlers/robbed by tea-leaves/obscured by silt by now.

Thanks

Chris

 

[Apophenia]

Another clue is the missing outer wing panels. The Arado Ar 196 wings folded at the roots. The Aichi E13A1 wings folded at mid-span.

Check out the E13A1's folded wings and exposed propeller shaft on this photo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aichi_E13A_at_Seletar_Airfield.jpg

 

[GTX]

Another clue is the missing outer wing panels. The Arado Ar 196 wings folded at the roots. The Aichi E13A1 wings folded at mid-span.

Check out the E13A1's folded wings and exposed propeller shaft on this photo:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aichi_E13A_at_Seletar_Airfield.jpg

You beat me to it.

 

[GTX]

This image (ignore the watermarks) is larger and shows some more detail. It is reported as "Wreck Aichi E13A Japanese World War Two float plane sunk by American fighters Solomon Islands"

 

[Arjen]

Aichi it is, I think.