Ex-crew recognizes photos of sunken Japanese battleship
TOKYO (AP) - A former crewmember on a Japanese battleship that sank during World War II says he recognizes photos taken of wreckage discovered this week off the Philippines by a team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Shizuhiko Haraguchi served as a gunnery officer on the Musashi, one of the largest battleships in history, when it was being fitted in Japan before it departed for the Pacific in 1943.
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He said Thursday that he recognized underwater photos taken by Allen's team of a gun turret and a catapult system used to launch planes.
The apparent discovery on Sunday of the Musashi comes as the world marks the 70th anniversary of the war's end.
The Musashi sank in October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. About half of its 2,400 crew died.
