Texas A&M joins effort to recover historic World War II aircraft
College Station, TX (February 6, 2026) A team from Texas A&M University is helping in an effort to recover and preserve a World War II aircraft that has been submerged in the Pacific Ocean for more than 80 years.
Texas A&M University’s Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation (CMAC) will join the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, the Republic of the Marshall Islands Cultural and Historic Preservation Office, Naval History and Heritage Command, and Jaluit Atoll local government officials and traditional leaders in the project to recover the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber from its resting place near Jaluit Atoll.
The team will clean, conserve and stabilize the aircraft, which will ultimately go on display in “as-is” condition at the National Museum of the United States Navy, currently under development.
Archaeologists and conservation specialists at Texas A&M’s CMAC have been documenting and studying the aircraft since 2006. The Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to preserving aviation and maritime artifacts, has conducted seven expeditions to Jaluit Atoll since 2003.
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The Douglas TBD-1 Devastator is among the most significant aircraft in U.S. naval aviation history. As the Navy's first all-metal, low-wing, semi-monocoque plane, it was critical during the opening months of the Pacific campaign, including the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Of the 129 TBD-1 aircraft built, none are preserved in museums or private collections; all known examples rest on the ocean floor.
This aircraft being recovered launched from USS Yorktown and ditched in the Jaluit lagoon on Feb. 1, 1942, during the U.S. Navy's first offensive operation in the Pacific. All three naval aviators survived and later endured captivity as Japanese prisoners of war until their liberation in 1945.
Texas A&M and its partners see the recovery and preservation of the Jaluit Devastator as both a tribute to the courage of Navy aviators and an enduring opportunity to share the early history of U.S. naval aviation with generations to come.
For more information about the Devastator Project, visit: https://airseaheritage.org/projects/devastator-rising/
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Story Credit: Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences
