The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Hawaii archaeologists released photos Thursday of a U.S. Navy  airplane sunk on the east side of Oahu just minutes before the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

It was one of 27 Catalina PBY “flying boats” that were destroyed on the ground or while moored at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Kaneohe Bay.

Researchers have been trying to get a good look at the wreckages since 1994, when murky water thwarted a UH dive team’s attempt to photograph one of the planes, according to a NOAA press release. A second effort in 2008 by a local sport diving group “also had limited success,” the release stated.

Last June, students from the UH Marine Option Program returned to the wreck and conducted a detailed archaeological survey in an effort coordinated by Hans Van Tilburg, a maritime archaeologist with NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

“This latest effort also produced the first systematic photo and video documentation of the entire site,” the NOAA release stated.

“Van Tilburg said while the precise identity of the aircraft remains unknown, it is possible the crew died while attempting to take off in the face of the attack,” the release stated. “The plane, which rests in three large pieces at a depth of 30 feet, is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which prohibits unauthorized disturbance of military vessels or planes owned by the U.S. government, as well as foreign sunken military craft that lie within U.S. waters.”

“The new images and site plan help tell the story of a largely forgotten casualty of the attack,” Van Tilburg said in the release.