Raja Ampat · Indonesia · Wreck
P-47 Plane Wreck
A WWII American P-47D lying between 26 and 33 m
Area photo: Buena Ventura · CC BY 3.0
An aircraft wreck from the Second World War Pacific campaign, identified as an American P-47D, lying between 26 and 33 metres about 45 minutes by boat from the Soul Scuba Divers centre. It is a small, deep, single-object dive rather than a reef, and the depth sets a short working window over it.
Where it is and how deep
0.7050° S, 130.7090° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The wreck lies between 26 and 33 metres, so the dive is short and planned around that. Descend to the shallower end of the aircraft, work it once from there down and back, and watch the no-stop time rather than the wreck: at this depth the window over it is measured in a handful of minutes rather than in laps.
Aircraft wrecks are small compared with ships, and this one is a single object rather than a site to swim through, which changes the pace. There is no published penetration and nothing recorded about the marine life on the airframe, so treat it as an object to circle and photograph. The run out is about 45 minutes from the dive centre, and the profile makes it the first dive of the day.
The wreck
- Vessel
- P-47D Thunderbolt
- Type
- American Second World War fighter aircraft
- Cause
- Lost during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War; the circumstances are not published
- Lies
- Between 26 and 33 metres
The aircraft is identified as an American P-47D Thunderbolt lost during the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. A second, independent dive guide to Raja Ampat records a P-47D Thunderbolt near Way Island, which matches the identification carried by the site listing. Neither gives a date, a unit or an account of the loss, so what is dived is the airframe itself between 26 and 33 metres, with no archival record attached to it.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime |
Season follows Raja Ampat: October to April is the drier stretch and November to April the manta season at Manta Ridge; July to mid-September can bring strong winds and rough seas.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the P-47 plane wreck?+
The aircraft lies between 26 and 33 metres, which makes it a short no-stop dive and puts it beyond entry-level certification limits.
What kind of aircraft is the P-47 wreck?+
It is identified as an American P-47D, a Second World War fighter lost during the Pacific campaign. No date or circumstances for the loss have been published.
Sources
- P-47 Plane Wreck dive site — ScubaGo
- Diving in Raja Ampat — DiveZone
More dive sites in Raja Ampat
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Reef hook dive at 10-12 m in very strong current
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