An early model Vought Corsair aircraft was discovered by Santo locals earlier this month and was reported to South Pacific World War Museum.
Following a dive on the wreck by Dive Vanuatu divers, initial photographs were taken to help identify the aircraft.
Pilots knew the aircraft as a ‘birdcage’ canopy.
Dozens of aircraft of this type were based at the Turtle Bay Fighter Airfield, north of Luganville just off the East Coast Highway.
Museum’s Chairman Bradley Wood said it was due to the absence of propeller blades, it appears to have been dumped off a ship.
“If the blades were still serviceable, they could have been removed and fitted to another aircraft.”
While that might be one theory, aviation enthusiasts on the Museum’s Facebook page have speculated that the blades may have simply corroded completely away after 70 years in salt water.
Dive Vanuatu will be returning to the wreck in the next few weeks. Those dives might just hold the answer to the mystery of the sunken Corsair.