The wrecks of Truk Lagoon

On February 17, 1944, the US Navy launched its surprise attack.  The Battle of Truk Lagoon, or Operation Hailstone, as it was called by the USN, was a short-lived, very one-sided battle that left numerous Japanese ships sitting on the bottom in relatively shallow water.  The US attack force consisted of nine aircraft carriers with some 500 planes, seven battleships, numerous heavy and light cruisers, destroyers and submarines, vastly outmatching what was mostly Japanese merchant ships being used as military cargo vessels.  

With so many ships sunk in shallow water with good visibility, it’s no surprise that Truk Lagoon—now called Chuuk—has become a favorite international destination for wreck diving.  I stayed at the Truk Stop Hotel & Dive Shop (cute name!), and when I was there, the Truk Stop was very small and affordable.  Looking at its website today, it’s grown a lot!  

We typically made four dives per day: two in the morning and two more in the afternoon; sometimes on the same wreck and sometimes moving on to another.  My log book shows multiple dives on the Fujikawa Maru, the Heian Maru, and the Kensho Maru, with other dives on wrecks that I didn’t write down (shameful!).  Our dives were both amazing and moving.  There was evidence of fierce fighting and death everywhere, and the surprise nature of the attack was confirmed by seeing half-eaten bowls of rice and lost slippers.  

Most of our dives were just the two of us, on the dive shop’s small boat, accompanied by our one-man crew, William, who was our skipper, historian, and dive master.  For me, the dives were quiet, solemn ventures into an angry past.  And yet, amongst all the death and destruction, many of the wrecks now host vibrant, colorful and growing artificial reefs with abundant UW diversity.  The result was like visiting silent, solemn temples colorfully decorated in a celebration of life.  

And the lagoon itself is nothing less than beautiful, making all the surface intervals just as enjoyable as the dives.  I’ve done a little bit of wreck diving in other locations, but nothing compares with Truk Lagoon (Chuuk).

All the photos below are mine.  You can Click on any photo to launch a slideshow starting at that point.  If you like these UW photos, you might also enjoy my Scuba: Caribbean Page, and my Scuba: Palau Page.  I also have a page dedicated to my more comical UW fish photos, that I call my Comic Fish Page.