[Red Badger]

Would it perhaps be a Lockheed Electra?...............

[rlmorel]

It isn’t an avenger or a wildcat. Could be a dauntless.

[robroys woman]

Looks kinda like a Japanese betty bomber.

[WKUHilltopper]

Yeah. It looks “almost perfectly preserved”...pfft!

[robroys woman]

It’s not upside down, based on the angle of the wing to the fuselage.

[reed13k]

I’m guessing either a flying boat or a damaged aircraft attempting to make a water landing and hitting the ridge just to the right of the nose ... which then flipped it over.

Crew could’ve survived that scenario depending on speed at the tip.

Beautiful juxtaposition.

[Jonah Hex]

Given it's inverted with no visible wheel wells, could it be an A6M2-N Rufe with the central float torn off?

[Snickering Hound]

[DaxtonBrown]

That’ll buff right out.

[Bringbackthedraft]

TBF? Large cockpit, small man in a kayak = TBF? Wing hinges???

[Moonman62]

It’s hard to believe this was just discovered.

[DFG]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_E13A Aichi E13A "Jake" http://www.dive-the-world.com/reefs-and-parks-palau-peleliu-ww2-history.php Jake's Seaplane This is one of the most accessible sea planes to dive in Palau. This 1938 built Aichi Navy float plane which had a 3-man crew now rests among hard corals in 13 to 33m depth meaning it is visible from the surface. It seems to have crashed shortly after take-off. Unbent propellers suggest they were not turning at the time of impact with the water's surface. Much of the inside of the plane has been stripped of artefacts although some dials and gauges remain. You can inspect the surrounding reef for cuttlefish, octopus and nudibranchs.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Alternate headline: Palau Kayak Tour Visits Well Known Local Wreck: Photgrapher Sells Picture to Online Publisher, Writer Cranks Out 500 Words of Click Bait Fluff and Nonsense.

[353FMG]

“Almost perfectly preserved”?

[Mears]

“’For me, it’s the juxtaposition between the wreck and the person kayaking carefree right next to it. It seems disrespectful given that someone could have died in that wreck.’ “

—

I never thought of carefree kayaking as disrespectful.

.

[csvset]

From the article.

believed to be a Japanese Aichi E13A long range reconnaissance seaplane

[Axenolith]

Looks like an upside down B5N (Kate). The engine/prop assembly is broken upwards with respect to the aircrafts top.

[bgill]

That’s just all kinds of eerie creepy.

Still waiting for someone to find Amelia Earhart’s plane.

[editor-surveyor]

.
If that thing is “perfectly preserved,” I’d hate to see a damaged one!
.