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Blackjack - B17 bomber
 Milne Bay, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea
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Max Depth: 131-140ft/40-43m
Average Viz: 31-35ft/9-11m
Aquatic Life: Plenty To See
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Rating: 4.00 by 1 divers
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Blackjack - B17 bomber is a salt water dive site, located in Milne Bay, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. This dive site has an average rating of 4.00 out of 5 from 1 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 131-140ft/40-43m. The average visibility is 31-35ft/9-11m.
The Blackjack, a B17 military bomber aircraft made by Boeing is not your usual wreck dive. The flying fortress that now lies about 45 meters deep and the sandy sea bed just off the coast of Papua New Guinea after a bombing mission in Japan. Still intact despite its not so smooth landing, divers can inspect the cockpit, turret guns amidst groupers and other fish. The seats are in place and you can quite easily visualize the pilot and co-pilot in the closing moments of this tough airplane’s war history. Papua New Guinea’s crystal clear waters and this mint condition aircraft wreck make it a topnotch spot to experience.
Black Jack B17
THE CREW MEMBERS
PILOT
CAPT. RALPH DELOACH
CO-PILOT
LT. JOSEPH MOORE
NAVIGATOR
LT. CHARLES SHAVER
BOMBARDIER
LT. MANUEL DIAZ
FLIGHT ENG.
DELDERT SMITH
RADIO OPERATOR
GEORGE PAEZIOSO
WAIST GUNNER
EDWARD JAMES
BALL TURRET
JOSEPH WILSON
WAIST GUNNER
JIM PETERSON
Blackjack, possibly the most famous bomber in the South West Pacific theatre of operations. ( S.W.P.T.) Ditched whilst returning from a raid on Rabaul, she now lies in 50 meters of water off Boga Boga village in the Milne Bay province of Papua New Guinea.
Flown most of her life by Ken McCullar until he was killed in a take off crash, it was McCullar who flew her to glory and into the history books. However on July 12th she was piloted by De-Loach and Moore.
Blackjack was part of the 43rd bomb group and the 5th Air Force. And part of 10 B17s on her way to attack Rabaul, forced to ditch through lack of fuel and severe thunderstorms. She now lies on a white sandy bottom and is completely intact, even her guns move in their mounts. Visibility is usually excellent, 80 - 150 ft and can be visited by experienced divers.
Blackjack is obeying B17 Flying Fortress. A little after midnight on July 11, 1943 she took of from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to attack a Japanese airstrip at Rabaul on New Britain and did not return.
She was discovered almost by accident by 3 local divers from Lae, she lies in deep water on the seabed a thin skin of coal encrusting her. She is beautifully preserved and totally intact - ammunition belts still wend their way to the machine guns, which still move stiffly in their mounts.
Papua New Guinea abounds with the reminders of the waste of war, but most of the relics have been stripped or salvaged for their worth as scrap. Such a complete aeroplane is unique, a genuine historical treasure trove.
The Flying Fortress was a big bomber. Powered by four 1200 horsepower engines, the B17 was 74’ long, with a wingspan of 103 ’, and weighed over 20 tons. Thirteen machine guns jutted from her turrets and gunports to protect her crew of ten men.
B17 number 41-24521 was rolled out of Boeing’s Seattle factory one humid day in July of 1942, and 6 weeks later she joined the 43 Bomb Group, based in northern Australia. The 43rd was part of the 5th Air Force, which had been formed to provide the aerial support for General Douglas MacArthur’s return to the Philippines and the defeat of the Japanese Empire, but in September 1942 Japanese forces were within 30 miles of Port Moresby, the last major Allied position in New Guinea. The 5th Air Force was holding a desperate holding action.
Fate had chosen 41-24521 to be more than just one of over 12000 Flying Fortresses built for the U.S. Army Air Forces. The brand new bomber was assigned to Capt. Ken McCullar and his crew and was given the nick name … BLACKJACK, an obvious choice when the last two digits of her air force serial number were ’’21’’.
In the air, the bond between man and machine is real. In war it becomes even stronger and such a bond was forged between Ken McCullar and BLACKJACK. Ken McCullar was a flamboyant gambler and a totally fearless aggressive pilot - he even had his ground crew fit a extra machine gun in BLACKJACK’S nose, fired by a but