A legacy of the war in paradise The shipwrecks of Japan’s World War II Imperial Fleet base,

Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon Bill Jeffery

Photo: Greg Adams

Guam

Palau Chuuk Lagoon

now part of Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

FSM

Paradise

Paradise

above and below water

Photo: Mark Hardy

War

Chuuk (Truk) : Japanese strategic advance base during World War II

USA considered dropping Atomic Bomb on the Japanese fleet in Truk in 1944

Conventional bombing from February 1944-

August 1945 destroyed Chuuk

• 5,000 Japanese and 1,000 Chuukese

killed

• 6,800 tons of bombs dropped

• 112 Japanese ships sunk, 450 aircraft

lost

Truk was regarded as the

• ‘Impregnable bastion of the Pacific’

• ‘Japanese Pearl Harbor’

• ‘Gibraltar of the Pacific’

Indigenous

people from c.

2,000 years ago

To the Chuukese, land is everything—have a spiritual connection with their land

Chuuk

Spanish rule 1886-1898 German imperialism 1898-1914

Imperial powers in Chuuk

Japanese colonisation 1914-1945

Japanese royal visit to Chuuk in 1928

By 1945, there were 40,000 Japanese and 10,000

Chuukese living in Chuuk, mostly in Chuuk lagoon

Tonoas, 1942

Tonoas, 1944

Controversy—establishing military facilities

Etten airstrip

Japanese Army—from 1944

• 101 Army guns (75 to 105 mm)

• 85 Navy guns (75 to 200 mm)

• about 302 automatic weapons

of smaller calibre

From a 1979 survey of the World War II remains in

Chuuk

Memorials

Pillboxes and bunkers

Many remains of Japanese occupation

Chuuk Lagoon

Chuuk’s role in World War II:

‘Greater East Asian war’

Rabaul

Townsville

Truk

Initial bombing of Truk was carried

out by Australians in January 1942

Operation Hailstone 17,18 February 1944

30 April, 1 May 1944

Task Force 58:

• 4 large aircraft carriers

• 13 light carriers

• 6 battleships

• 6 heavy cruisers

• 27 destroyers

• 10 submarines

June 1945, British fleet

attacked Truk—lost 2 aircraft

• ‘The strike on Truk demonstrated a virtual revolution

in naval warfare; the aircraft carrier emerged as the

capital ship of the future, with unlimited potentialities’

• ‘This attack, which was delivered with devastating

effect, was particularly satisfying as it was a partial

payment for Pearl Harbor’ (Naval Aviation News

October 1, 1945: 10)

• 3,500 aircraft sorties were carried out—in

comparison, 350 sorties were employed by the

Japanese at Pearl Harbour

• B24 and B29 bombers dropped more than 6,000

tons of bombs on Chuuk Lagoon from May 1944 to

August 1945

c. 12 suicide torpedo bases

• Five airfields

• Combined fleet base

• Fourth fleet base

• Ship repair base

• Supply base

• Sixth submarine fleet

• Storage for > 60,000

tons fuel and oil

• Five communication

facilities

• Hospitals

• ……..

Scars of the war today

Fuel tanks

Lighthouse

Bunkers for

Chuukese

Some of the 1200 building remains

Communications Base now a prominent school

Many are being re-used by

local residents as homes

Photo: Mark Hardy

Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks in and around Chuuk Lagoon

112 ships sunk and 453 aircraft destroyed

Kiyosumi Maru

One of the largest ships sunk in Chuuk was Heian Maru

The 205 metre long aircraft carrier Zuiho

• Ships were at

anchor unloading

cargo and Army

personnel

• Most naval vessels

had pulled back to

Palau having been

alerted by USA

spotter planes 10

days before

Base for 2 largest

battleships of WWII,

Yamato and Musashi

70,000 tons

Site Name Site No.

Recorded site length (metres)

Measured site length (metres)

Gross Tonnage

Latitude Longitude Located by Side Scan Sonar

Aikoku Maru 1

152 Broken in two (106) 10438 7.3

151.9 Yes

Amagisan Maru 2 137 133 7620 7.2 151.8 Yes

CHA 29* 3 49 420 7.5 151.8 No

CHA 46* 4 26 130 7.4 151.9 No

CHA 66* 5 26 130 7.4 151.8 No

Ei-sen No. 761 6 34 34 300 7.3 151.8 Yes

Fujikawa Maru 7 133 133 6938 7.3 151.8 Yes

Fujisan Maru* 8 150 9524 7.4 151.8 No

Fumitzuki 9 97 95-100 1590 7.4 151.7 Yes

Futagami 10 40 40 625 7.3 151.8 Yes

Gosei Maru 11 83 80 1931 7.3 151.8 Yes

Hanakawa Maru* 12 112 4739 7.3 151.6 No

Heian Maru 13 156 160 11614 7.3 151.8 Yes

Hino Maru No. 2 14 61 60 998 7.3 151.8 Yes

Hoki Maru 15 137 108 7112 7.3 151.9 Yes

Hokuyo Maru 16 109 101 4217 7.3 151.9 Yes

Hoyo Maru 17 144 146 8691 7.3 151.8 Yes

I-169 18 103 99 1785 7.3 151.8 Yes

Shipwreck Database: 52 shipwrecks located in the lagoon + ?

Ships sunk or damaged in Chuuk during WW IIFrom 4 primary and 4 secondary sources

19

15

46

41

Sunk in Lagoon

Sunk in either Lagoon or outside

One reference-doubtful

Damaged

Sunk and refloated

Percentage of ship types sunk in Chuuk Lagoon

51%

6%6%

6%

9%

2%4%

2%

8%2% 4%

Transport

Tanker

Submarine chaser

Destroyer

Picket/Inter-island

transport

Submarine

Submarine tender

Minelayer

Tug

Stores ship

Armed Merchant Cruiser

Types of ships sunk

Type USA code No. of engines

Wingspan (metres)

Location Inspected

Latitude Longitude

Mitsubishi A6M Zero Zeke (1)+

1 11 Western end of Etten

Yes 7.3

151.8

Mitsubishi A6M Zero Zeke (2)

1 11 Eastern end of Etten

Yes 7.3

151.8

Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter

Zeke (3)

1 11 West of Weno

Yes 7.4 151.8

Yokosuka D4Y Dive bomber

Judy (4)

1 11.5 Eastern end of Etten

Yes 7.3 151.8

Nakajima B6N2 Torpedo bomber

Jill (5)

1 15 Eastern end of Etten

Not located estimated

7.3 151.8

Mitsubishi G4M Bomber

Betty (6)

2 25 Eastern End of Etten

Yes 7.3 151.8

Kawanishi H8K Flying boat

Emily (7)

4 38 South of Tonoas

Yes 7.3 151.8

Nakajima C6N Reconnaissance

Myrt (8)

1 15 West of Weno

Yes 7.4 151.8

Nakajima B5N2 Torpedo bomber

Kate (9)

1 16 West of Chuuk Airport

Not located estimated

7.4

151.8

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless*

USA (10) 1 No wings remaining

North East Pass

Yes 7.520089 151.991667

11 aircraft located in the lagoon

USA aircraft remains

Fujikawa Maru

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Mark Hardy

Photo: Mark Hardy Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Photos: Mark Hardy

Heian Maru

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Photos: Greg Adams

Shinkoku Maru

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Mark Hardy Photo: Greg Adams

Gosei Maru

Nippo Maru

Photo: Mark Hardy

Tug

Photos: Greg Adams

Tug

Photo: Greg Adams

San Francisco Maru

Photo: John Riley

Hoki Maru

Photo: Mark Hardy

Aircraft

Emily

flying boat

Photo: Greg Adams

Photo: Greg Adams

Zero

Zeke

Photo: Greg Adams

Myrt

A rare aircraft

‘New discoveries’

Gun boat

Dock boat

ex Bonito fishing vessel

Sapporo Maru

Photo: Jeremy Green

More shipwrecks !

Promoting the value of shipwrecks and land

sites

Conflicting values

Superstructure impacted from dynamite fishing

Sea mines in the hold of San Francisco Maru

Dynamite fishing Photo: John Riley

Souveniring

1978 2000 Number of Nationals as tourists in 2001

1744

12

758

19614

6

50

6

4414

7724

U.S.

Filipino

Japan

Chinese

Belgian

British

Swiss

Canadian

Korean

Italian

Australian

German

Photos: Col Hodson

Oil leaking from shipwrecks • potential for large scale pollution and damage to fragile ecosystems

• In 2002, Conservation specialist predicted that some shipwrecks could start to break-up in 10-15 years time

Over 3,800 WWII shipwrecks,

330 oil tankers, 86% Japanese

Chuuk

Map source: Monfils,

Gilbert and Nawadra

USS Mississinewa in Micronesia

• Sunk with over c. 4 million gallons

of oil aboard—2001, 2 million

gallons pumped out and sold

For further information see: Jeffery, W.F. (2007). War graves, munition dumps and pleasure grounds: a postcolonial perspective of Chuuk Lagoon's submerged World War II sites. PhD. James Cook University http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/2068/