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Papua New Guinea is a group of islands that form a country near Australia. It is a remote and beautiful land, full of mystery. One of these mysteries surrounds the wreck of a Japanese Zero that sank on December 26th, 1943. Tomiharu Honda left the air base in West New Britain on a mission over Kimbe Bay. Neither Honda or his fighter plane ever returned to the base. Sixty years after Honda's final mission, Papua New Guinea fisherman, William Nui, was freediving for sea cucumbers. He saw the shadow of the plane in the water deep beneath him. A superstitious man, Nui was frightened by the image and believed he had seen the outstretched arms of a ghostly figure. He summoned the courage to dive deeper and take a better look. Nui saw that the shape was a wrecked fighter plane. Nui told the story of what he had found and word made it to Max Benjamin, the owner of Walindi Dive Resort. Walindi is partnered with the Febrina liveaboard. Max dove on the wreck and made careful observations. He found the throttle in the off position and the flap controls set to reduce the airspeed of the plane. This suggested the plane had run out of fuel and that Honda must have intentionally coasted in for a water landing, a dangerous gamble, with water landings resulting in disaster more than 80 per cent of the time. Honda had skillfully guided his plane to a spot in Kimbe Bay close to shore. Managing to bring the plane to a stop undamaged, Honda was able to swim to shore as it sank. But it seems that Honda's troubles did not end when he reached the island. Max Benjamin recorded the serial number of the plane. He found no visible signs of damage from combat. Max checked archives and historical records, finding that Honda had been considered missing in battle. He had never found his way back to Japanese territory. Accounts of villagers suggest that Honda had made his way to Talasea, a nearby village and that he was helped back to his base. This is contradicted by wartime records. Local legend tells us that Honda might have hidden out in the jungle for the rest of his life, ashamed to return and admit that he had lost a plane as a result of being lost and running out of fuel. A darker tale involves Honda being eaten by a tribe of cannibals on one of the islands. Honda's true fate will never be known. His plane is slowly being covered by sponges and coral as time passes. It serves as a fascinating and mysterious site for scuba divers. The F.V. Febrina and it's Captain, Alan Raabe take their Kimbe Bay tours to this site.

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