the Ships We Sank

Salvage Operations in Rabaul Harbour

The Japs Want to Buy the Ships We Sank

SALVAGE operations on the Jap ships at the bottom of Rabaui Harbour got away to a blast of Australian newspaper publicity in June.

The Sydney end of it is being handled by Mr. Nicholas S. Frangi, representative of Pacific Islands Salvage Company and J. V. Miller (New Guinea) Ltd., who have acquired the salvage rights to the ships sunk in Rabaui harbour and others off the Bougainville coast.

Mr. Peter Turnbull, who has en gaged in other salvage ventures in the area, is also interested.

The important Rabaui end of the business is in the capable hands of ace-diver John Johnstone, who made a survey of the area at the end of last year and who went back to do some hard work in May, 1954.

Mr. Johnstone’s sober approach to what he evidently regards as just another job is in contrast to the newspaper treatment of the under taking at the Sydney end which turns it into an exciting submarine gamble where “anything is likely to turn up—even bars of gold.”—and all in glorious Technicolour!

We understand that the salvage

rights to the sunken Japanese ships in Rabaui —said to be about 200 in number, some under and some partly out of the water were acquired by Mr. J. L. Chipper, Rabaui businessman, for a very small sum shortly after the war.

Mr. Chipper’s interest in the salvage operations is not known, but he appears to have retained some interest.

Mr. Johnstone, in his first dive in June, is reported to have dis covered a Jap aircraft-carrier with 20 aircraft still on its flight deck.

Nine tons of propeller (at £3O a ton) had also been salvaged and sold.

An impressive number of private fortunes have already been made out of war-scrap deals in the South-west Pacific. There seems no reason why another fortune should not be made from the wrecks in Rabaui and Bougainville.

But the scrap market is, not so buoyant as it was —Japan now pro viding the main market —although, according to the story put out by Mr. Frang’ in Sydney, British, Con tinental and Asian interests are clamouring to establish letters of

credit in order to be on the ground floor should anything interesting come up from the bottom of Rabaui harbour.

The publicity that the venture has received in Australia is not calculated to do the shareholders any harm. To the contrary, as the principals are, no doubt, aware.

This is listed as Mr. Johnstone’s last job before retirement and it is calculated that it will take two years.

Mr. Johnstone has retired twice before and his age is given at 62.

He looks a very fit 50. If anyone can salvage a fortune from Jap war wrecks, he is the man for the job.

FOOTNOTE: The Japs are re ported to have offered a million

dollars for the wrecks now to be • vaged—then their dollar credits were restricted and the deal fell through. If anything further is needed to prove that the whole man race is mad, these scrap deals are* it. Japs build them, we cink rhem, we salvage them, Japs buy them!