As reported in today's Maui News, Brad Varney, the owner of B&B Scuba Maui, has found the wreck of an SBD Dauntless dive bomber from World War II. As the paper notes, "Both canopies were open, with the plane's gauges clearly visible on the console, and the back flaps are down. The only part missing was the plane's top tail rudder, which Varney found resting on the sand not far from the wreck."
Maui's World War II history is often overshadowed by interest in the attack on Pearl Harbor, O'ahu. However, Maui was also attacked, first on December 15, 1941, when the pineapple cannery was shot at from a submarine deck gun. (No lives were lost, but the shelling inflicted about $700 in damage.) Two weeks later, on December 30, Kahului was bombarded again, also with little effect.
Toward the end of the war, the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions used Ma'alaea Harbor to stage amphibious landings and practiced assaulting the area that is now part of the Lahaina-Pali trail.
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