In 1994, a fisherman noticed something strange off the coast of Koror, Palau: an Aichi E13A-1 seaplane, called the Jake, was resting in shallow water around 12 metres deep.
He told the owners of a local dive shop who went to check it out. Word spread and this well-preserved plane wreck has become popular with scuba divers.
The Jake had been used by the Japanese Navy but exactly how it met its end is unclear – perhaps a mystery lost with time. Some suggest that it may have crashed during take-off or landing when the engines were not running. “Interestingly, the propellers are straight,” says Fish n Fins dive shop on its website. “If the airplane hit the water while the engine was running, the props would have bent.”
What is clear is that, as it smashed into the seafloor, the tail broke off and scattered a few metres away from the fuselage. Today, it’s hard to find after so many years in seawater with life growing over it.
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There are several different wrecks, including other seaplanes, off the coast of Palau, but the Jake is one of the best known, partly because it is such an easy dive. On a clear day with good visibility, it’s even said to be possible to see some of the wreck from the surface while snorkelling.
Some items have unfortunately been stolen, according to dive website ZuBlu, but the gauges and dials inside the cockpit are largely still intact.
Today, the plane has become one with the ocean, its deterioration giving it a somewhat eerie look against the bright blue sea. But, in its time on the seabed, it has developed a second life.
Like other wrecks that sink to Davy Jones’ locker, after years in the sea, coral started to grow over the plane and it became an artificial reef. The staghorn, lettuce, brain and table corals – plus many soft corals – that have sprung up here have created many nooks and crannies for reef fish and other marine life to hide.
There are plenty of animals to seek out when scuba diving on the Jake, all of which are totally unaware of its naval past. Look closely and you might be able to pick out brightly coloured nudibranchs against the coral or find an octopus hidden in a cosy den among the wreck.
Top image: Jake seaplane wreck. Credit: PublicBre/Getty Images
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