#27. Unexplored Oceans
Brandi Mueller learned to dive when she was just a teenager, at the age of 15. Back then, she was living in New Zealand as part of a student exchange program, and since then, diving became her great passion.
Mueller was always troubled by the fact that approximately 95% of Earth’s oceans remain unexplored. With this in mind, she decided that she wanted to dedicate her life to explore the depths of the oceans, hoping to unveil some of its mysteries.
#26. How Everything Started
At the same time, Brandi had always enjoyed taking pictures of plants and animals. As time went on, she decided that she wanted to make a living out of her hobby. And that’s when she thought of combining her two passions:diving and photography.
While she was studying at university, she traveled to some exotic places to learn more about plants. She visited more than 60 countries and dived in all the continents. She also decided to join the Coast Guard and went on professional scuba diving expeditions.
#25. Amazing Findings
Thanks to her determination, Brandi Mueller has made some impressive findings on some of her expeditions. In fact, she has come to explore many Aeroplane Graveyards of the Second World War that lie submerged in the seabed of the Pacific Ocean.
While the world, Mueller discovered underwater that otherwise would never have been found. But now we’re going to focus on one of her most groundbreaking findings: the relics that she found on the seabed of the Marshall Islands..
#24. 70-Year-Old Mystery
Five miles away from the coast of Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands, the 31-year-old Brandi Mueller came across a fantastic site where hundreds of aircraft from the World War II lay on the underwater graveyard of the Pacific Ocean.
Mueller couldn't believe it when she first spotted 150 warplanes spread on the seabed and the photos she took amazed historians worldwide. Upon her discovery, she obtained a captain’s license to lead a second diving expedition.
#23. The Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands are a group of 29 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and although most people only see the beauty of this tropical place, the ocean keeps many secrets that only a few can see.
Mueller became one of them when she found this location, made up of atolls, a perfect place to explore. The first stop was the waters from Kwajalein Atoll, where she took pictures of beautiful animals.
#22. A Deadly War
However, in 1944, this paradise was the scene of one of the most important wars in history. On top of that, most of the coral reefs were destroyed as a result of nuclear contamination, as a result of the testing of nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
But this did not stop Mueller, who decided to return to this place several times to learn why all these planes were dumped during World War II and it became one of her most important projects.
#21. Debris On The Seabed
During one of her expeditions around the Marshall Islands, something interesting was revealed: on the seafloor, there was a layer of huge metal debris.
As she got closer, she could see some rusted hulls that were covered in coral, with thousands of fish using them as a home. This was clearly a sign that the warplanes had been left untouched for a long time. Amazing, right?
#20. Only For Pros
Although the area where the planes were was well-known, diving in this place was extremely difficult and only a few expert divers were able to reach the “Airplane Graveyard”.
Determined to take more photographs, Mueller continued coming to this remote area and she collected a great number of fascinating pictures that took her an enormous amount of time, skills, and patience.
#19. Airplane Graveyard
Luckily, as she had been named captain, Brandi Mueller was allowed to explore the Pacific Ocean without restriction, as well as to practice her photography skills beneath the waves with a group of divers.
After the discovery, Brandy continued exploring this isolated place every day in order to capture more images of these abandoned planes. Some of the planes were lying vertically and some of them were in a strange position.
#18. Perfect Conditions
Amazingly, the planes were completely intact and despite the rust, seaweed, and coral, they remained in very good conditions with only a few broken tails and wings. But sadly, since the planes were extremely rusted, Mueller could not identify the insignia or their origin.
Any other visitor would have probably guessed that the planes had belonged to a Japanese or an American fleet which most likely ran out of fuel and was unable to return to their home country. However, Mueller and her team were lucky enough to unveil the unexpected truth.
#17. No Human Remains
The planes were actually in very good conditions, aside from the rust that had formed on its exterior due to the obvious fact that it had remained submerged in the depths of the sea and in the middle of a coral for 70 years.
#16. Revealing The Forgotten History
Mueller was sure that other divers had visited this site before, although it was impossible to stipulate how many people had already been there. As it is extremely complicated to get to this location, it is certainly a trip that only a few lucky and brave divers dare to take.
Luckily, Mueller was willing to take the risk, and historians have much to thank her. This aircraft graveyard was a great historical finding since it also allowed historians to gain insight into the events that took place during the Second World War.
#15. A Challenging Project
Mueller’s photographic project was, without a doubt, the biggest and most difficult challenge in her life. The thing is that the sunken planes were very difficult to capture. As Mueller explained, “These planes are particularly hard to photograph given the depth.“
But no matter the dangers, Mueller found it very thrilling.
“But seeing planes underwater is strange, planes don’t belong in the water, they belong in the sky, so it feels weird to dive on them. But amazing and special too.,” Mueller said in an interview.
#14. More Than A Hundred
All in all, during her dives in Roi-Namur, Mueller photographed over 150 different aeronautical pieces that were dumped into the ocean, including small fighters like F4F Wildcats, TBF/TBM Avengers, Helldivers, and B-25 Mitchell medium bombers.
Some of them were stuck into the sand and most of them were covered in coral. “They should have flown more, lived longer, but they were sunk in perfect condition,” Mueller told the Daily Mail
#13. Why Were They There?
During the Second World War, several battles between the American and Japanese forces took place in different islands of the South Pacific Ocean. However, this alone did not explain why so many airplanes lay on the bottom of the ocean in such perfect conditions.
Apart from that, Mueller added: “Diving on shipwrecks seems normal, you expect ships to have sunk…but not planes“. What do you think happened?
#12. Dumped In The Ocean
Most of the airplanes and military supplies that Mueller found were in good shape, which meant they had not been shot down: According to the diver, “they were taken out over the reef and pushed off intact after the war ended.”
Dumping equipment in the sea after a war has always been a common practice. This explains why there was a millionaire amount of metal junk at the bottom of those waters, but, why did the Americans decide to dump their ships in the ocean?
#11. The Main Reason
The fact is that after the surrender of the Empire of Japan, the planes were intentionally sacrificed and thrown into the sea, because transporting the warplanes back to the U.S. wasn't worth the effort nor the costs.
Besides, many of these airplanes had already become obsolete by the time the war was over, so the money that it would've taken to transport the aircraft back to the U.S. was invested in purchasing faster and more modern planes. But what else did they find other than planes?
#10. Underwater Museum
Mueller found so many military objects and equipment that it could truly be described as an underwater museum. The warplanes included TBF, TBM Avengers, dive bombers, and F4U Corsairs, most of which dated from the 1940s.
Apart from that, Mueller found ships and semi-trailers. In the nearby island of Vanuatu, divers also found forklifts, tractors, bulldozers, jeeps, and even coke bottles. But there’s another question that needs to be answered: why was all this equipment in this particular region?
#9. Battles In The Pacific
The reason takes us back to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December, 1941. This hard blow did not destroy American determination to achieve an allied victory. Six months after the attack, the US forces retaliated against the Japanese at the Battle of Midway.
The Battle of Midway took place in the Midway Atoll, a group of islands located in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. During this military conflict, the American forces inflicted devastating damage to the Japanese fleet, undermining their naval power.
#8. A Strategic Position
Well, the Midway atoll is close to the Kwajalein Atoll, which belongs to the Marshall Islands. And during World War II, the Japanese 6th fleet settled its administrative center in the Kwajalein Atoll, to aid the Japanese fleet scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean.
In 1944, two years after the Battle of Midway, the US forces invaded and occupied this Japanese base in what was known as the Battle of Kwajalein. The US was interested in taking control of the Marshall Islands due to its strategic geographic location.
#7. A Humiliating Defeat
50,000 members of the US Armed Forces took part in this battle, which ended in an American victory. The Japanese forces were extremely damaged in what went down as one of the most humiliating defeats in naval history
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So, in the end, the Americans destroyed both Japan's administrative center in the Kwajalein Atoll and their military garrison in the nearby Mili Atoll. Besides, it was much easier for the US to reach Japanese land from these islands.
#6. Underwater Cemetery
These battles explain the amount of military equipment that lay in the bottom of the ocean near the Marshall Islands. But as you may imagine, Mueller discovered similar military equipment in other diving expeditions at other parts of the Pacific Ocean.
As a result of the aerial and naval battles of World War II, the South Pacific Ocean became a cemetery of military vehicles which was documented by Mueller’s amazing pictures. And you know what? In other sites, human remains have been found!
#5. Chuuk Lagoon
Mueller discovered yet another World War II underwater graveyard on the seafloor of the Chuuk Lagoon, located in the Central Pacific Ocean, within the territory of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Chuuk Lagoon was the Empire of Japan’s main naval base in the South Pacific, but it was destroyed in 1944 after a two-day American attack called Operation Hailstone. Mueller found so many objects here, that it became one of her favorite places to take photographs.
#4. The Gibraltar Of The Pacific
This Japanese base was referred to as “the Gibraltar of the Pacific” due to its natural deep lagoon, circling barrier reef, and man-made defenses. In fact, it was considered to be the strongest naval base in the Pacific with the exception of Pearl Harbor.
The islands were once part of the Spanish West Indies, explored by Magellan, but by the time World War II broke out, they belonged to the Empire of Japan and more than 40.000 Japanese soldiers were active there.
#3. Treasure Underwater
After the American attack, about 250 warplanes were destroyed, and experienced pilots lost their lives. Also, about forty ships, including cruisers, destroyers, auxiliary ships, and about two dozen cargo vessels, were sunk.
At the time of the sinking, these Japanese ships were loaded with supplies and ammunition, which were spread across the seabed, making it a real treasure for divers and underwater explorers. Mueller's photos are a living proof!
#2. Japanese Warplanes
Mueller found all type of objects in her other expeditions, though especially planes. Most of the planes she found were the Mitsubishi Navy Type 1 attack bomber, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II.
These planes were highly effective but they did not provide protection to the pilots due to its structural lightness. This is another of the reasons why the Japanese decided to withdraw them in 1945, and why many of them were thrown into the ocean.
#1. End Of The War
After the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered, and soon lost control over these islands. By the time the war ended, dozens of planes had been dumped into the ocean. They have remained lost on the ocean floor for 70 years.
Fortunately, Mueller’s brave expeditions and incredible photographic skills have allowed us to find out part of what lies at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean… But what other things do you think we’ll find?