Japanese Submarine Wreck Found at Papua New Guinea

Australian and New Zealand warships clearing World War II era munitions from the harbor at Rabaul have found what is believed to be a Japanese midget submarine. The wreck was found sitting upright on the sandy bottom at 180 feet underwater. Rabaul was one of the most important Japanese Naval bases during the War, and the site of sharp combat in January 1942 - when Japanese forces seized the harbor and associated military installations from Australian forces. Allied airpower subsequently and repeatedly bombed Rabaul in the following years, though it was bypassed by Allied ground troops; with much of its garrison only surrendering at War's end late in the summer of 1945.