This page sets out a much lengthier set of photographs, videos and reports from our trip to Truk Lagoon in January 2011, for anyone who is really interested, and as a sort of permanent scrap book for the most enjoyable diving trip of Colin's life.
We dived a total of 24 dives on 13 different wrecks over 8 days.
For speed of loading, this gallery has been split into two pages. Click here to go to page 2.
We dived a total of 24 dives on 13 different wrecks over 8 days.
For speed of loading, this gallery has been split into two pages. Click here to go to page 2.
Fujikawa Maru
The Fujikawa Maru is the most famous wreck in Truk Lagoon, and is often voted as the best wreck dive in the world by diving magazines. As the Captain of the Odyssey put it: "It is just not fair that so much cool stuff is all on one wreck." From the stowed Zero fighter aircraft in hold #2 to the "R2-D2" air compressor in the machine shop, there is a lot of amazing stuff to see on the Fujikawa Maru.
Hoki Maru
The Hoki Maru has been blown in two, and we dived the stern section. Of the only two holds on the stern section, one still has a large amount of aviation fuel in the silt, and so is not really safe to dive. Accordingly, pretty much everyone ducked into the aftmost hold, which holds a bulldozer (precariously balanced) and some trucks. The Hoki Maru is another very deep wreck, with the deck at about 125 feet.
San Francisco Maru
The deepest commonly dived wreck in the Lagoon is the San Francisco, with the main deck at 165 feet, Colin dived this as a planned decompression dive. Also called the "million dollar wreck" because of the large amount of wartime cargo left in its holds. The most notable features are the tanks on the bow deck, but it also has a plethora of other goodies. In hold #2 it has a 500 lb bomb in a crate which Colin dutifully went in to look for and came back reporting he was unable to find it. However, to his surprise he had actually taken a photograph of it! Pretty good illustration of the effects of nitrogen narcosis.
Betty Bomber
The Betty Bomber is the token aircraft that is usually dived in Truk Lagoon. It was our shallowest dive (a mere 65 feet) and the aircraft is still fairly in tact, and probably ditched in the sea rather than being shot down. Because coral does not stick to Aluminium, most of the airframe looks very similar to when it originally went down in 1944. The engines were thrown 200 feet forward of the airframe by the impact.
Nippo Maru
Colin's favourite wreck in the Lagoon was the Nippo Maru. The wreck is still in extremely good shape, and its bridge area is almost entirely intact. It also has the shallowest tank in the Lagoon (a mere 115 feet) as well as highly photogenic field artillery. It also has all of the regular cool stuff lying around randomly, and (for reasons no one has ever worked out) an abundance of reef sharks. Unfortunately it was a very deep wreck - the stern deck goes as deep as 150 feet - and so our bottom time was severely limited.
We did not get many good photographs of I-169, but Colin did take a number of video clips, which have been stitched together and put up on YouTube.
Fumitsuki Destroyer
The Fumitsuki is the Westernmost wreck in Truk Lagoon, sunk as it tried to make its escape. It now rests on the sand at 130 feet. Sadly we got very few decent photographs of this impressive wreck.
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