Truk Lagoon, West Pacific Ocean

Truk Lagoon is a coral reef lagoon in the Western Pacific Ocean. It lies approximately 1200 miles off the Phillipines in the Micronesian group of islands (formerly known as the Caroline Islands). In the Second World War it was an anchorage for the Japanese Navy fleet. In February 1944 an American air raid attacked the harbour. Over 60 ships and more than 200 aircraft were sunk in the waters of Truk Lagoon. The ships are beautifully preserved in the calm and protected waters of the lagoon.

A group of divers from the Basingstoke diving club and I visited Truk Lagoon in early 1994. It is a very long period of travel to reach Truk, taking roughly 2 days. We stayed on the main island of Moen which is itself very small (4 miles by 2 miles). Diving was shore based and provided by the Blue Lagoon dive shop from their boats. The waters of the lagoon were very warm at 28 Celsius and the visibility of the water was excellent at over 40 metres.

We dived a total of 24 different wrecks during the three week stay. These were quite amazing; they were well preserved, standing upright in depths ranging from 50 metres to 25 metres, there were numerous military artifacts present and all the wrecks could be explored by going inside. A typical list follows;

• the Fujikawa Maru, an aircraft ferry 437' long in 32 metres
• the Shinkoku Maru, a navy tanker. Upright in 38m.
• the Rio de Janeiro Maru, a liner in 38 metres
• the Fumitsuki Maru, a destroyer in 40 metres
• the Sanfrancisco Maru, a liner/freighter full of mines! in 49 metres
• the Amagisan Maru, a cargo/passenger vessel.
• the Kansho Maru, a cargo vessel, decks at 29m.
• the Nippo Maru, cargo ship full of military equipment.Depth 41m.
• the Unkai Maru, upright ship at 35m.Distinctive bow gun.
• the Aikoku Maru, 52m. Passenger and cargo liner.
• the Momokawa Maru, 41m. Liner containing trucks and aircraft parts.

All in all a truly remarkable visit that ended all too soon.

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