SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Kyodo News reports that the SS Macumba, an Australian merchant ship sunk by Japanese aircraft on August 6, 1943, has been found off the coast of northern Australia. “Three people died on that ship and one body wasn’t recovered so it’s a war grave site,” explained senior heritage officer David Steinberg of the Northern Territory government. The captain and 36 crew members survived. The Macumba had been transporting supplies from Sydney to Darwin, where Japanese air raids had killed more than 200 people in 1942. Pictures of the vessel, which rests under more than 130 feet of water, suggests it is sitting upright and has formed an artificial reef. “We’re looking to put a protected zone around the site to prohibit entry into it until we understand its full significance,” added Steinberg. For more on archaeology in Australia, go to “Death by Boomerang.”
