Going Full Circle: ECU’s 2018 Archaeological Investigations into the Battle of Saipan

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "East Carolina University Partnerships and Innovation with Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The 1944 Battle of Saipan resulted in many U.S. losses, including Douglass SBD Dauntless, F6F Hellcat, and TBF/M Avenger aircraft. In 2018, East Carolina University’s (ECU) Program in Maritime Studies held their summer field school as a DPAA-oriented mission to examine an already-known Avenger site and search for other aircraft losses in Tanapag Harbor, Saipan. Led by Dr. Jennifer McKinnon and Dr. Nathan Richards, students explored sites using side scan sonar surveys, remotely operated vehicle target testing, diver/snorkel ground-truth target testing using visual and metal detection inspections, and archaeological survey and mapping. Their investigations resulted in extensively recording the Avenger site and locating remains such as aircraft wreckage, landing crafts, shipwrecks, anchors, moorings, and debris. ECU’s 2018 summer field school provided a major step towards understanding the aftermath of the Battle of Saipan by identifying World War II remnants in Tanapag Harbor.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• East Carolina University Partnerships and Innovation with Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 724