MANILA, Philippines - The public will have a chance to see what is inside the World War II-era Japanese warship Musashi as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his team will offer a live stream tour of the sunken vessel today.
The online tour of the ship will start at 9 a.m. (Philippine time) and will last for about one and a half hours.
The tour will offer the first-ever complete view of the vessel, recognized as one of the most advanced battleships in history. Viewers will be shown exclusive footage of the ship, including details like the bow and stern sections, and the main conning tower.
“After eight years of diligent research, locating the Musashi was a meaningful moment for me and my team,” Allen said in a statement.
“We are proud to have played a role in finding this key vessel in naval history and are honored to share it with the survivors, the families of those who perished and the world,” he added.
Musashi was found by Allen’s yacht M/Y Octopus in the Sibuyan Sea off Romblon on March 2.
An article posted on the American billionaire’s website said Musashi was sunk by American forces on Oct. 24, 1944 in the lead up to the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
“The discovery of the ship marks an important milestone in the annals of World War II naval history. The Musashi, and her sister ship Yamato, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed,” the article read.
The Japanese Navy ship was commissioned in 1942 and weighs 73,000 tons fully loaded.
Roughly half of the crew members were killed when the ship sank, according to paulallen.com.
The online tour will be conducted using the same state-of-the-art Remote Operated Vehicle that was used to discover the Musashi.
To access the live stream, the viewer can visit http://musashi.paulallen.com or http://youtu.be/qNMmqagTt90. They can also monitor the online discussions about the tour via the hashtag #MusashiLive and @VulcanInc.
In the event of weather delays, viewers will be notified through paulallen.com . The live stream will be archived at http://www.paulallen.com/Musashi-Expedition.