Australian navy dives on sunken WWII Japanese midget sub

Australian navy divers collected a jar of sand Monday from next to a sunken Japanese World War II midget submarine now on the ocean floor off Sydney's coast. The sand will be presented to the families of two Japanese submariners — Sub-Lt Katsuhisa Ban and Petty Officer Mamoru Ashibe — who are believed to have died inside the vessel.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Water Resources said the sand was collected at the request of Ashibe's relatives and would be given to the families when they visit Australia later this year. The midget sub, which was one of three that took part in Japan's historic raid on Sydney Harbor, was discovered by recreational divers in November last year, following hundreds of false "discoveries," and ending almost 65 years of speculation. On the night of May 31, 1942 the M24 entered Sydney Harbor and fired torpedoes that missed the U.S. cruiser USS Chicago but exploded beneath the barracks ship HMAS Kuttabul, killing 19 Australian and two British sailors.