Truk Aggressor February 1992

Click here for a map of Truk

Truk (or Chuuk as it is being spelled more recently) is one of the states in the federated States of Micronesia (FSM), located near Guam. It was a Japanese stronghold in World War 2 and was the 2nd largest shipping harbor in the Japanese empire. In February 1944 the Americans launched an air raid (operation Hailstone) against the ships in the lagoon and sank 60 ships in 48 hours. The sunken ships have become an under water Museum. In these protected waters, the ships are well preserved – Most are within the depth range of sport divers. Many artifacts have been taken out of the insides of the wrecks so that divers not comfortable penetrating the wrecks still have plenty to see. In addition to the historic artifacts, the ships are teaming with coral growth and pacific tropical fish life.

The astute visitor to my web site will notice that I was in truk before and that I returned after only a couple of years. Well that is easy to explain – I love wrecks and Truk is Wreck Heaven. On this trip I stayed on a live aboard dive boat so that I could get many more dives per day on the wrecks than we did staying at a hotel. The TruK Aggressor was the option that best filled that need (although it no longer operates). Clay and Jeannie Wiseman were the captain and dive master – this was my second trip on a boat on which they were key members of the crew. I frequently dove with Jeannie; you can see her yellow wet suit in several scenes. The aggressor spent one day diving on the reef outside the lagoon, to satisfy the guests who were not as in love with wreck diving as me. This trip was special because we were one of the first groups to dive the Hanakawa Maru. This wreck had oozed a substance that adversely affected humans. Just before this trip it was discovered that whatever was the cause of the problem had ceased to exist. Covered in silt the artifacts on this wreck were clearly untouched since its sinking. It is the first wreck in the video after the reef scenes.

Click here to see the video

Click here to learn more about Truk

Click here to Learn more about Operation Hailstone