WWII Japanese Ship Found on Philippine Seabed Suspected to Have Treasures

03/05/2015 – Manila | Microsoft Co-founder and American billionaire Paul Allen said he had found one of Imperial Japan’s most famous and biggest WWII battleships off the Coast of Sibuyan Island. Pictures on his website and twitter account were posted on Wednesday.

Historians are excited about the discovery and said that the findings, if verified, will be one of the most important discoveries concerning World War II, and compared it to Titanic.

Allen 62, the world’s 51^st richest person according to Forbes, is an avid explorer, philanthropist, and businessman.

Allen’s M/Y Octopus, a naval exploration vessel is credited for finding the Musashi, one of the trio biggest warships ever built during the Second World War

Kazushige Todaka, director of the Kure Maritime Museum in Japan, said that the discovery is one of the most important and one of the biggest naval discoveries in recent memory.

The Musashi was sunk by US and Australian planes on October 24, 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the biggest Naval encounter between US, Australia, and Imperial Japan forces.

However, report after the discovery have circulated that the Musashi was carrying tons of stolen treasures looted from other Asian countries bound to China.

Report said that the ship was evading enemy forces when caught by aerial bombardment. Allen or any of the M/Y Octopus crew did not mention any treasure, but report said that the exploration team is trying to retrieve unspecified amount of treasures.

“The Philippines is the last country where Japanese forces were defeated during the Second World War. All looted treasures from other Asian countries were brought to the country for safe keeping, but Japan lost time in delivering the treasures to mainland Japan that’s why most of the treasures were buried in different islands, including the famed Yamashita Treasure”, historian Manolito Quezon said.

“Musashi was not trying to fight and was evading because it carried an important cargo, but was struck by the enemy forces. We can’t confirm what was it carrying but it is possible that it was carrying tons of treasure bound to China”, Quezon added.

Allen’s website did not mention anything about the treasure. Historians and authorities are focused on the importance of discovery rather than the possible treasure.

Several salvage groups have already show interest in recovering the ship but the Philippine government has yet to give any comment about the issue.

See Also: Biggest Palladium Deposits Found in Philippines

/Fanny Jalacjac/ Assisted Press Manila

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