WWII shipwreck found off NT coastline: divers

WWII shipwreck found off NT coastline: divers

Posted Mon Dec 29, 2008 4:25pm AEDT


One of the first ships destroyed in Australian waters during World War II has been found off the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.
Four people died when the steamship USS Florence D, packed with explosives, was sunk by Japanese bombers on their way to begin the first attack on Darwin in February 1942.
Just hours before, the ship had rescued the crew of a flying boat, shot down by Japanese Zero fighters.
The surviving crew members then made their way in life rafts to nearby Bathurst Island where they were marooned for four days.
Sixty-six years later and after months of research, divers say they have found the freighter in murky waters, 85 nautical miles north-west of Darwin.
Heritage officers will visit the site in the coming months to officially confirm the discovery.

WWII shipwreck found off NT coastline: divers - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)