Ohhh there is a great story here. I have to go a little further to get it all in. There were some ships in Rabaul that needed repairing and being constantly attacked the officers asked to take them to Truk Lagoon for that purpose. One of the admirals (Vice admiral) made his way down there…
The Seiko Maru was built in 1940 for the Dairen Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha. She initially had civilian cargo duties but after being requisitioned she served as a war material transporter between the Empire and the Inner South Seas. She was attacked on July 31st 1943 and hit by the U.S. Submarine Pogy and later the…
The Yamagiri Maru was built in 1938 by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a Passenger-Cargo freighter for the Yamashita Kisen (Steamship) Company. The submarine U.S.S. Drum attacked and heavily damaged her on August 28th 1943. She was taken back to Rabaul but daily air strikes made repair there impossible and she was moved to Truk Lagoon…
She was built in 1936 as a commercial oiler for the Nippon tanker shipping company. She was requisitioned by the Japanese Navy in 1941 and served as a tanker in the 4th Fleet. She was heavily damaged by the USS Haddock (submarine) on November 6th 1943. Fires started aboard and 2 crew members died of…
The Unkai Maru was originally a British steam ship with the name of S/S Venus built in 1903. She was bought by the Japanese in 1911 by Nakamura-Gumi Ltd. Being requisitioned by the Japanese Navy on January 5th 1944 she arrived in Truk on the 30th of January. She was sitting there nearly empty waiting…
The Sankisan Maru has some mystery to her. There are stories, that she was named Red Hook once, being built in Tacoma, Washington, then captured and renamed. However, some of the things like the tonnage and other things don’t add up. So there is discussion if this story is true. Most likely not. Undoubtfully however…
The Nippo Maru was built in 1936 for the Okazaki Honten Steamship Co. Ltd. based in Kobe. Two of her six sister ships were also sunk in the Operation Hailstone attack, the Momokawa Maru and the Kikukawa Maru. She initially carried supplies (mostly food) from Taiwan to Japan and back. She was requisitioned in August…
The Amagisan Maru was a passenger cargo freighter built in 1933 by Mitsui Bussan Kaisha. She was hit several times before she was sunk in Truk. The first time was a torpedo hit (14 Feb 1942) by a submarine just of Davao, Philippines. The second time was an air raid in Balikpapan, Indonesia (17 Aug…
This is actually not a victim of Operation Hailstone. She was lying at anchor, somehow caught fire and then exploded on October 7th 1943. About 50 to 250 (depending who you are asking) men, most trying to get the fire under control went with her plus some tugs and landing crafts. The wreck lies in…
This ship is a deep beautiful dive. And even after one dive, I have fallen under her spell. She is the first dive of the day since she lies quite deep. As we are traveling out to the site (8 min from the anchorage), I repeat what Captain Lance just told us about her. The…