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| IJN Kunikawa Maru 11 Dai 2 Kantai Dai 11 Koku Sentai 938 Kōkūtai |
Aircraft History Built by Mitsubishi completed during late December 1942. At the factory painted with green upper surfaces and gray lower surfaces with the fuselage Hinomaru surrounded by a white square. True serial number 250. Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as Type 0 Observation Seaplane / F1M2 Pete manufacture number 1250. Wartime History Assigned to the Kunikawa Maru to 11 Dai 2 Kantai Dai 11 Koku Sentai and operated from Shortland Harbor Seaplane Base using Tuha Channel and mooring off Poporang Island. On March 1, 1943 assigned to the newly formed 938 Kōkūtai (938 Air Group) with tail code L-2-15. Wreckage During 1943, the fuselage of this aircraft was abandoned in an assembly area in a group of F1M2 Petes west of Nila on Poporang Island. By the early 1970s, the green exterior paint had faded revealing the red primer paint layer below. This fuselage remained in situ until November 2007. Salvage During late 2005, this aircraft was reportedly sold to Australian Craig Turner / Solomon Islands National Museum Project as part of a $220,000 USD deal to remove aircraft wrecks from the Shortlands and Ballale. Despite the promised payment, the chiefs and people claim they never received any payments for this aircraft or any aircraft later removed. The project ceased due to a dispute with locals. On November 6, 2007 Australian Craig Turner with Englishman Gary Spoors / GJD Services Ltd to salvage aircraft. Again the Shortland Island chiefs claimed they never received any payments for this or any aircraft wrecks removed. On November 8, 2007, this fuselage was removed with other aircraft were loaded aboard barge MV Tina. The salvage included: A6M3 Zero (no. 1), A6M3 Zero (no. 2), A6M2 Zero 2487, A6M2 Zero 7434 from Ballale Island plus F1M2 Pete 1250 (this aircraft) and F1M2 Pete 5269 from Magusaiai Island and Poporang Island. The salvage was documented by OneNews: Shortland & Ballalae Aircraft Salvage that aired on November 20, 2007. Afterwards, the salvaged aircraft were transported to Honiara and stored briefly before being shipped overseas to Australia or the United Kingdom. Since the end of 2007, the precise whereabouts of this aircraft are unknown. Likely, placed into storage in Austral a suburb to the west of Sydney where Craig Turner resides. References F1M Register of Serial Numbers by James Long Pacific Aircraft Wrecks (1979) by Charles Darby page 52 (middle) the caption states tail code L-215 [sic L-2-15] assigned to Kashima [sic]. A corrections page by Charles Darby notes the tail code as L2-15 [L-2-15] YouTube "OneNews: Shortland & Ballalae Aircraft Salvage" November 20, 2007 GJD Services - Solomon's via WaybackMachine.org February 25, 2008 Classic Wings Issue 64 "Solomon Salvation" pages 48-49 Thanks to Charles Darby for additional information Contribute
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