The Wreck of IJN Maya - Broken on The Seabed

[@glencrandall7051]

75 years underwater. It's amazing how much detail is still visible.

[@hambdenbob7616]

My Friend,I Really Appreciate The Way You Conduct A Naval Forensics Presentation. You've Always Paid Homage To Those Crewman That Went Down With Their Ship In A Time Of Sheer Hell...

[@MrGoesBoom]

7:28 pretty amazing that despite all this time and all the rusting, you can still very clearly see the numbers and markings on this housing.

[@froot6086]

im assuming its because its like bronze or something.

[@georgem7965]

As an old artilleryman I will speculate on the well preserved dial. It may be sort of an analog anti-aircraft computer. The graduated inner dial may be either the horizontal or slant range while the "spiral" bands on the outer part of the dial may be time of flight so that the time fuzes may be set to the correct time to explode. The multiple bands outside of any point on the graduated dial may indicate different elevations of the guns. I hope someone who can read Japanese chimes in with an actual translation of the characters. Fire control would be taking data from the range finders and sending firing data to the gun mounts, "Bearing X, elevation Y, time Z" constantly as the direction and distance of attacking aircraft changed. The fire control function is to take data as to where the target is now and predict where it will be at a point in the future when the anti aircraft shells arrive and explode.

[@2000spqr]

I have to agree with you sir! Thankyou for that observation in detail!!!!!

[@psikogeek]

Indeed. Your description makes something like a slide rule: a primitive fire control computer.

[@YourGodStalin]

Knowing that Japanese ship main guns were all dual purpose with anti-aircraft rounds, I would agree and say you're very likely correct.

[@memadmax69]

The dial on the range finder @10:21 says something about "azimuth using type 91 bullet"

[@williamherndon5065]

Thank you for not forgetting these ship's. Im a vet not of WWII. I KNOW that the ships i served on are metal. However, i live carring "the fighting sprit in my heart even now!". Your stories are about seamen and officers not forgotten. BM2 (SW-AW) Herndon, wm ret,usn

[@ozysjahputera7669]

The Takao class is a beautifully lined warship.

[@josephlow265]

The "survey telescope tower" at 11:03 is actually a covered position for her Type 95 machine gun director which controls the forward 25mm AA guns.

[@DragonShadowfire1]

I always love the vids you do about Japanese navy shipwrecks. The Takao class heavy cruisers are, in my opinion, one of the best looking naval warships of the 20th century. Like USS Wichita, or Prinz Eugen, they just look good, and mean. If you’re interested, I’m curious if there have been any efforts to find the wreck of Zuikaku. For a ship with such a legendary story, I’ve always found it sad that her final resting place has never been found. I think Shokaku has been found, but her sister is still missing. Thank you so much for another awesome video about Japanese shipwreck of World War Two! Keep it up, and can’t wait for more!

[@manveerparmar6570]

Where did you hear about Shokaku being found?

[@DragonShadowfire1]

Pardon my late reply, I had to do some research to make sure I was accurate this time around. I seem to have misinterpreted an article about the discovery of the Japanese carriers at Midway. Disregard my earlier comment, the two Shokaku sisters are still unaccounted for. Which as a final note, seems amazing to me. Two ships with such a legendary story, and yet, we have no idea where their final resting place is. Cheers for asking me to show my work, you caught me doing a stupid. @@manveerparmar6570

[@imoenbg1]

@@manveerparmar6570 Wasnt Shokaku found along with Kaga a couple years ago?

[@manveerparmar6570]

@@imoenbg1 No that was Akagi

[@Praxics0815]

I always loved the look of the Takao class cruisers. I know they had their issues but still visually I find them very appealing. That is especially true for Maya because they removed one of the main batteries added new superstructure elements in front of the bridge section and filled it with AA placements. It makes the the silhouette flow better. Very elegant indeed. And yes I know it is utterly irrelevant for a warship but I'm talking aesthetics here.

[@alephalon7849]

Ah, you covered the wreck of my favorite IJN cruiser. That lighting makes her look like she's covered in verdigris at times. It's quite sobering.

[@Ro6entX]

Can’t help but to feel sorry for those poor sailors on these ships; all that armor and such still can’t stop the violence of battle. Lot of young sailors died horribly regardless of what flag flew. Also many survivors from this ship were pulled out and stayed aboard the Miusha, which end up getting sunk a day or so later, which many of Maya survivors, died.

[@jerryle379]

Hopefully the Chinese and Indonesian won't try to savage her

[@robertf3479]

I think he mentioned the depth the Maya is resting at roughly 6,000 feet or 1,000 fathoms. This MAY be a little beyond the reach of the Indonesian "salvagers" and IIRC is deeper than Repulse and Prince of Wales. Again, IIRC the Petrel team did not publish the locations of the wrecks they found and surveyed except in vague terms. I was a warship sailor for several years, those ships need to be left undisturbed as war-graves IMHO. I can hope that any effort to "salvage" Maya results in bringing up one or both depth charges and they detonate, wrecking the salvaging vessel.

[@2000spqr]

That vessel that is Chinese has been doing alot of salvaging for decades now. 2021 she was caught just above the Prince of Wales and could not give a explanation why she was there. 2 yrs later a team went to inspect PoW and found explosives located near her shafts and keel. Enforcement determined it was going to be used to try to "break her back".

[@MarkLac]

@@2000spqrand that is where I would detain the crew and not let them go at all. On top of that, start enforcing a “guard watch” to keep people away from those wrecks.

[@warriorgaming1604]

They will

[@patrickmccrann991]

She is too deep at 6000 ft for them to attempt salvage. The Prince of Wales and Repulse are in very shallow water, barely 200 ft deep.

[@jacktyler2880]

Excellent presentation. A previous commentor called your work "forensic examinations," and that seems a very good description. I'd like to offer some speculation on that mysterious anchor chain. I have no "inside" information, just offering a scenario. The first torpedo hit at the chain locker. Suppose it opened the bulkheads and allowed one of the chains to fall out of the space. The inboard end of the heavy chain is permanently attached to the ship, so it hangs down vertically its full length into the water. At some point thereafter, the bow breaks free. The main portion of the hull sinks first, then the bow, trailing a couple of hundred feet of chain. As it drifts across the main hull, sinking as it goes, it deposits the chain along its route of drift, marking forever the path it took during sinking. Reasonable?

[@DavePocklington]

The part of the ship shown at 20:42 is the area below the sloped funnel. That cylindrical object above and to the left of the double barrelled gun is a search light position. See Waldemar Goralski's recreation of the ship at the time of its sinking. He does excellent work computer modelling WW2 era warships.

[@memadmax69]

The dial on the range finder @10:21 says something about "azimuth using type 91 bullet"

[@NoelSadak]

An interesting tidbit - In the film Grave of the Fireflies, the ship that the main characters father is serving on is the Maya.

[@josephlow265]

The "rangefinder" mentioned at 9:37 is not a rangefinder. Her actual Type 14 4.5m low angle rangefinder for her main guns would have sat on top of that tower behind this device, it unfortunately fell off and all is left is the tower. The device we are looking at here in the foreground is actually her Type 94 low angle gunnery director for her main guns.

[@paulamos8970]

Another excellent presentation, thanks.

[@rollerbones1]

The damage to the stern is likely crush damage from sealed spaces being crushed by water pressure as she sank. The weakening from this damage may explain much as to why the main deck has fallen away all the way to the rear turret.

[@markstott6689]

You were very diplomatic. Japanese 25mm AA guns were nigh on useless at best.😮

[@marckyle5895]

About like our 1.1" quads. Once the Bofors and Oerlikons became available, those got melted down.

[@markstott6689]

@@marckyle5895 The wisest course 🙂

[@marckyle5895]

@@markstott6689 You don't even want to waste enlistees (the USN didn't draft, only the Army did) time and effort using these as guns in training.'cause they'll have to unlearn everything except basics.

[@wirelessone2986]

My grandad did all 7 patrols on USS DACE and was onboard when IJN MAYA got pounded by 4 torpedos

[@ericvadekro8334]

Beautiful and fascinating! Thank you!

[@killergames391]

Something not pointed out in the picture of the binoculars and head set is the angle indictor for the binos still completely legible 75 years later. Ff all the parts and pieces on the ship that indicator almost appears as if it never knew the ship sank

[@vaibhavjagtap7556]

Love from India❤

[@SeanCox-ic3fm]

R.I.P 🪦

[@keithrosenberg5486]

The guns in the turret might be at max elevation if they were getting ready to shoot at aircraft.

[@joem7641]

They should have made their ships out of anchor chain!

[@juanpablosuarez4910]

Seeing many of the wrecks, Despite being at the same deep and the battle damage, the american vessels are better preserved than the japanese ones. The americans still have the camouflage intact but the japanese are getting a rusty and very damage structure on the time, like titanic' wreck . Is this because of the material they used, the quality of the Steel?

[@digitalcareline]

Many Japanese ships were over weight and top heavy - too much ordinance for the size of the hull. The emphasis was always on attack more than defence. To counteract this much of the construction was thinner gauge than US ships and living quarters were cramped and claustrophobic. If Maya were compared to a Katana then a US Cruiser would be a Mace - you wouldn't like to encounter either but one is more nimble and fragile than the other.

[@derekhieb7458]

Dail looks like it has ballistic arcs drawn in red.

[@Black_Heart_Defense]

So you’re saying… if we can get to it… there’s a free almost perfectly intact 25mm out there? Very interesting

[@incomitatus]

The Japanese built some beautiful warships.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

That anchor chain is all over the wreck

[@BernabeGarciaAbadia]

Parece como si estuviera atracado en el fondo del mar ,y su estado no está nada mal

[@thinaphonpetsiri9907]

Will you sometime do a video for Hood’s wreck in the future? I’ve heard that she’s a mess.

[@2000spqr]

To add to your comments... I noticed that the bow is "hollow" or "gutted out" like an eggshell in most respects. I think there was another initial explosion and the hot gasses and pressure eliminated those bulkheads and decks off inside of her.@beaterbikechannel2538

[@Ro6entX]

Yeah she is definitely scattered but think large section of hull is left; can’t recall because been while since looking up the sonar images.

[@brownwrench]

Any speculation on why there is so much anchor chain paid out?

[@logansylvester8093]

It is most likely a combination of a Torpedo tearing open one of the ships forward chain lockers and the bow breaking off and dragging chain over the ship as the bow drifted astern.

[@species3167]

@@logansylvester8093 Agreed. The bow seems to have taken its time sinking as well. The chain might have played out fully and pulled the main hull up slightly (the bow acting as a parachute) so the aft slammed into the mud first. Might explain the massive damage (beyond the torp hit) to that area.

[@nicholasconder4703]

Did RV Petrel find IJN Atago as well?

[@emersonschwarz1364]

I think they have only found (that is, dive on and survey) Chokai and Maya. They know where Takao is, but because she was sunk in shallow waters near a busy shipping channel (I think in the Malacca strait), it is unlikely we will ever get a survey of Takao or Myoko, which also sank nearby after the war. To my knowledge, they have not found Atago yet, though I believe she sank in the same engagement as Maya, so there's hope she may still be out there.

[@dirkellis9212]

Their poor condition relative to their American counterpart is largely due to the difference in the quality damage control as well

[@iamrichrocker]

when i view these images i wonder what the last agonizing minutes must have been like..haunting..and then eternal rest in pitch black darkness..man and the follies of war..what a waste..

[@jamesberlo4298]

You can say "Relatively Shallow " at maybe 1,800 feet, not 1,800 Meters !!!

[@skyneahistory2306]

Chokai is 5km down, Johnston is 6400 meters, Samuel B Roberts is just shy of 6900 meters. Compared to the really deep Leyte wrecks, Maya *is* relatively shallow.

[@jamesberlo4298]

@@skyneahistory2306 I'm sorry at that Depth (a Mile) it has no relevance, You know just by looking at the Photos just how extreme it is, I'd say after you go beyond 1,000 Feet (thought to be the Maximum Saturation Diving limit for Humans) puts it in proper perspective, and being a Diver and only going to 225 Feet (22 Stories ) to a Shipwreck makes you realize just how far that is and puts it in proper perspective.

[@keithrosenberg5486]

Copper wiring does not rust.

[@williammitchell4417]

If you think about it, it would be like USS Enterprise-D hit by Quantum Torpedoes.

[@RebeccaCampbell1969]

Like watching a cemetery documentary... soldiers died in one of the most horrible way possible, and as always not all were monsters or war criminals. Depressive, sad actually... these are monuments for us to remember how bad were the old times, when Capitalism and Culture were just a new trend which didn’t had a chance against the old imperialism and colonialism. And it feels awful to see what the Chinese CCP and it’s drones did to HMS Prince of Wales and it’s cruiser companion. China is repeating those sins of the past. RIP Japanese navy sailors Thanks for the video

[@andrewmacdonald4833]

4 torpedoes...not a chance...

[@lukasito100]

Less deep as Hornet for example, and the japanese paint beeing much worse than US wich keeps preserving better