..HH ,6G{HH d'`,<KTLLF`F` 33of HH(kqHHmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmN;kq2k#l N;tu%uN;uw&xDlN;yLy yvbN:&r^J6" Helvetica Helvetica 0d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,   `B7`:MS(?urMarch 7, 1996. Copyright, 1996, Graphic News. All rights reserved THE SUN RISES ON JAPANESE SUBMARINE AND ITS TREASURES By Nicholaooth LONDON, March 7, Graphic News The year is 1944. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic a Japanese submarine makes a rendezvous Booth LONDON, March 7, Graphic News The year is 1944. Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic a Japanese submarine makes a rendezvous with a German U-Boat. By cover of night, the plan is to transfer technical experts and valuable commodities for use in German-occupied France. Just days after the D-Day landings, the tide of war had turned against the Axis Powers, and shortly after midnightortly after midnighte D-Day landings, the tide of war had turned against the Axis Powers, and shortly after midnightr midnight on June 23rd, 1944, the Imperial Japanese Fleets submarine I-52 becomes the latest victim of war. An aircraft from the USS Bogue spotted it on the surface and scored a direct hit. Submarine I-52 was lost along with all its crew. That was all that was known until a few years ago when Paul Tidwell, an American shipwreck expert, came across details of I-52s sinking in the U.S. National Archives. The information was somewhat patchy for even today, the full extent of the tragic loss is not known as both the U.S. and Japanese government refuse to release all archive files. But based on navigation records of where she was lost, Tidwell was sure that the submarine could be located and its precious cargo retrieved. So began Operation Rising Sun, which was to to involve a Russian research vessel, sophisticated side-looking sonars, an unmanned submersible equipped with high resolution video cameras and a computer program that could analyse fifty year old estimate tracks with real-time information on uncurrents. Wit real-time information on underwater currents. Within two weeks, the team had located the wreck of I-52 at 5,100 metres in the mid-Atlantic, where it had lodged in a small crater. From the video footage returned, it appears eo footage returned, it appears that the submarine was holed and sank quickly in one piece. At this weeks Oceanology International meeting in Brighton, Mr. Tidwell and his colleagues spoke about their findings. Some were veterans of the search for the Titanic and Bismarck, and ck, but were helped by the fact the submarine was easy to see using high resolution sonar. The team hopes to make another reconnaissance later this year and will be able to gauge how easy the salvage operation will be then. Source: Meridian SSSSSSSSSSSn Scean Sysciences Inc., Sound Ocean Systems Inc. Editors Note: Many of the people involved in the search are in Brighton this week. Please call Judith Patten at the Oceanology International meeting press office on (01273) 325281 to arrange interviews.RS-mmmLF`g mmmmLF`gm DS_`DLF`0g ) aylor and A. W)Kalker for the UK, E. W)qadensj(6for Sweden, N. T)U(akayama and I. Shimowada for Japan and Y)-P) .