January 2010

Remigiusz Baliński

It was there that the Americans took emotional revenge on the Japanese for the defeat at Pearl Harbor. After their massive attack, dozens of Japanese Navy ships and hundreds of aircraft ended on the Pacific floor. For this reason, the lagoon is one of the finest places in the world for wreck diving.

The American operation code-named Hailstone began innocently enough. Two American reconnaissance planes PB4Y-2 discovered a large gathering of Japanese navy within Micronesia. It was a big surprise for the Americans and certainly they did not intend to ignore it. An attack from the air was instantly planned. The 17^th and 18^th of February 1944 were the two days that decided the American dominance on the Pacific Ocean. 867 bombs and 70 torpedoes were dropped and fired at the naval base. It was a fatal blow to the heart of the Japanese Imperial Navy, even though Japanese under Admiral Koga managed to withdraw several major ships just before the bombing, including the two Japanese fleet flag battleships Yamato and Musashi.

Still, some other, no less impressive battleships can be admired at the bottom of the Truk Lagoon. These are, among others, the ships we got to explore: the San Francisco Maru, Fujikawa Maru, Aikoku Maru, Yamagari Maru and Nippo Maru. Most of them had been dumped with full cargo, consisting of shells, mines, artillery, tanks and trucks, which is an unquestionable attraction for divers. But only the most experienced and having specialized equipment for deep diving have a chance to admire the most interesting wrecks, due to the fact that most of these ships lie at the depth of 60-70 meters.

We begin with a giant cargo ship the San Francisco Maru: 5,831 tons displacement, 116 feet long. They call her ‘the million dollar wreck’. She lies at 65 meters. Visibility is excellent and the water warm – about 28 Centigrade. On the bow one can immediately notice the virtually untouched Mitsubishi tanks and the trucks standing next to them. It gets more interesting as we move on. The holds are filled with various munitions, ranging from artillery shells, to depth mines. And for dessert we have complete aircraft wrecks, some more tanks, trucks and even bulldozers.

The Fujikawa Maru is at a shallower depth of about 60 meters. She was also a large vessel, measuring 132 meters and with nearly 7000 tons displacement. She is among the best wrecks in the world and lies in a position close to natural. Interestingly, she is also one of the few wrecks with the Onsen style bathrooms on board, exactly as they were in contemporary Japanese houses.

Exploring the lagoon, one must certainly also dive to the Aikoku Maru. This is one of the largest wrecks at Truk Lagoon. She is difficult to penetrate, because she lies at a depth of 70 meters. To believe and understand what happened to this passenger-cargo ship you have to see it. 150 meters long and a displacement of 10,500 tons. It is unbelievable that a single air attack could destroy such a giant. The ship was hit in the middle of the deck, broke in half and very quickly, in just a minute, sank to the bottom. It looks like someone cut it in half and removed the bow. Although the Japanese recovered most of the crew and passengers’ bodies long ago, you can still come across human remains here.

At the end, we go to the Nippo Maru – a freighter 106 meters long and with a displacement of 3764 tons. It served mainly to carry heavy military equipment - guns, tanks, trucks, which of course you can still admire on board. Due to the excellent condition of the cargo, she is recognized as one of the most photogenic wrecks of the Truk Lagoon.

Too many sunken ships lie in the Truk Lagoon to penetrate all in one, too short a stay. This was already our third trip to the island of Weno and we still have much left to see ... :-)