Diving Truk Lagoon – Day 3

Three days into our Truk Lagoon adventure and the weather just keeps getting better.

Blue skies, barely a cloud in sight and another mirror-flat lagoon greeted us as we wandered down to breakfast. By now nobody really needed to be told what to do. Cylinders were being analysed, cameras assembled, coffees finished and dive plans discussed without a second thought. It’s amazing how quickly a group of strangers falls into the familiar rhythm of a dive expedition.

Today’s itinerary would see us visit the Momokawa Maru before heading to one of the wrecks I’d been looking forward to most—the Sankisan Maru.

Dive One – Momokawa Maru

Our first dive took us to the 107-metre Momokawa Maru, a former passenger-cargo ship resting peacefully on her port side in 39 metres of water, with the deck sitting at around 36 metres.

The visibility was spectacular.

Even from the surface we could clearly see the outline of the wreck below us. As we descended through the warm, crystal-clear water, the ship slowly came into focus until its massive hull filled our view.

The moment we reached the deck, everyone instinctively scattered in different directions. Every diver had spotted something that caught their eye.

Before long, our guide rounded us back together and began leading us through the accessible sections of the wreck.

The Momokawa still carries an impressive collection of wartime cargo. Aircraft components, truck parts, artillery shells and military equipment remain scattered throughout the ship, frozen in time since February 1944.

One of the first things that grabbed my attention was the size of the anti-aircraft shells.

They weren’t just large…

They were enormous.

Standing beside them really puts into perspective the scale of the war effort that passed through Truk Lagoon. Every ship we’ve explored seems to tell the same story—thousands upon thousands of tonnes of equipment, ammunition and supplies were destined for battle.

It makes you wonder how differently history may have unfolded had Operation Hailstone never taken place.

Originally built in 1940 to transport Siberian timber, the Momokawa Maru was constructed with a reinforced hull to withstand icy northern waters before being requisitioned by the Japanese Navy in 1943.

Her career was short-lived.

A 1,000-pound bomb struck amidships during Operation Hailstone, sinking her where she now rests beneath one of the world’s most beautiful lagoons.

The evidence is still impossible to miss.

Twisted steel radiates away from the impact site like someone has peeled open a giant tin can. Even after more than eighty years underwater, the violence of the explosion remains written across the ship’s hull.

If I’m being completely honest, the Momokawa Maru has probably been my least favourite wreck of the trip so far.

That’s certainly not because it’s a poor dive.

Quite the opposite.

I think Truk Lagoon has simply set the bar unbelievably high.

After swimming through engine rooms, encountering sharks and exploring some of the lagoon’s most iconic wrecks, the Momokawa felt like a quieter chapter in an already incredible story.

What it perhaps lacks in drama, however, it more than makes up for with marine life.

Schools of colourful reef fish blanketed every section of the wreck, while even our ascent line had become its own thriving little ecosystem. We spent almost as much time watching the fish during our decompression stop as we had exploring the wreck itself.

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that leave the biggest impression.

Back on board there was the usual swapping of stories as everyone peeled off wetsuits and grabbed a drink. One thing was becoming very obvious…

Somewhere over the past three days we’d stopped being sixteen individual divers and quietly become one team.

After a relaxed lunch back at the resort, it wasn’t long before we were loading gear once again.

Next stop…

The Sankisan Maru.

Dive Two – Sankisan Maru

Now this…

…this was more my kind of wreck.

The 112-metre Sankisan Maru met a violent end when a bomb exploded directly inside one of her ammunition holds.

The resulting explosion was so catastrophic that it destroyed much of the ship almost instantly and blasted a crater into the seabed beneath her.

Even today, it’s easy to appreciate the sheer force of that blast.

Descending onto the deck, we were greeted by an incredible collection of artefacts that previous divers had carefully gathered together. Bottles, shell casings, ammunition, bullets and other relics sat together like a small underwater museum.

It was impossible not to stop and take it all in.

Our guide soon led us into the first cargo hold.

Inside were thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition, still neatly packed inside wooden crates exactly as they had been loaded before the ship was sunk.

Over the years, visiting divers have arranged loose bullets into names and messages along the ship’s supporting beams—a fascinating blend of wartime history and modern exploration.

Further into the wreck we stumbled across another surprise.

Crate after crate of sake bottles.

Apparently the Japanese had every intention of making life in Truk Lagoon as comfortable as possible.

The bottles remain stacked exactly where they were loaded, creating one of the more unusual cargoes you’ll ever see on a wreck dive.

Then came one of my favourite discoveries of the day.

Medicine bottles.

Thousands of them.

Tiny glass bottles that once held tablets, morphine and other medical supplies now lie scattered beneath a layer of fine silt.

Out of curiosity I gently pushed my hand into the sediment.

Even buried almost to my elbow, I could still feel bottle after bottle beneath the sand.

Eventually I uncovered one with its cork still intact.

The medicine itself had long since dissolved, leaving only a faint outline inside the glass where the tablets had once rested.

Part of me wanted to stay there for another hour carefully searching through the silt, wondering what other little pieces of history were waiting to be found.

Unfortunately…

Decompression waits for no one.

As we continued exploring the wreck, I found myself doing something I’d been doing more and more each day.

Looking beyond the rust.

You start imagining what these ships once looked like.

The rusted machinery becomes a working engine.

The broken gauges once measured pressure.

The tangled hoses once carried fuel or steam.

Every piece of twisted metal was once part of a busy ship carrying people who never imagined their workplace would one day become one of the world’s greatest dive sites.

The marine life once again refused to be outdone.

A pair of large barracuda cruised slowly past the group, giving us a quick inspection before deciding we weren’t nearly interesting enough to stick around.

Back on the boat, the conversations started immediately.

Everyone had discovered something different.

Different cargo.

Different artefacts.

Different little pieces of history hidden amongst the wreck.

As a tour leader, that’s always a great sign.

Happy divers make for easy work.

By now the group had become far more than people sharing a dive boat.

The nicknames had well and truly stuck.

The banter had become relentless.

Poor Allan Bartlett, our PADI Course Director, was still unknowingly providing comedy gold every time he enthusiastically described another “great penetration” or “beautiful big opening.” By now, even our guides had joined in, and Allan was copping just as much friendly abuse as the rest of us.

It simply wouldn’t be an Aussie dive trip without someone becoming the unofficial entertainment.

Back at the resort there was only one thing left on the agenda.

Sampling the famous Truk Long Island Iced Tea.

Calling it a Long Island Iced Tea almost feels misleading.

It seemed to consist of a generous glass of white spirits with just enough cola poured over the top to convince you it was actually a cocktail.

One was…

More than enough.

By dinner, conversations had somehow gone from discussing decompression schedules and tomorrow’s dive plan to solving the world’s biggest problems. It’s amazing what a single Truk Long Island Iced Tea can do.

Needless to say, our table wasn’t the quietest in the restaurant that evening.

Tomorrow promises another huge day with dives on the Nippo Maru and Kiyosumi Maru, before finishing with what many consider one of the best night dives anywhere in the world—the Fujikawa Maru.

Something tells me sleep may once again be optional.

Dive Statistics

Momokawa Maru

* Maximum Depth: 39 metres

* Visibility: 30 metres

* Water Temperature: 29°C

* Highlights: Abundant marine life and wartime cargo

Sankisan Maru

* Maximum Depth: 38 metres

* Visibility: 30 metres

* Water Temperature: 30°C

• Highlights: Ammunition crates, sake bottles, medicine bottles, truck frames and aircraft spares.
  

written by Tour Leader Lee Johnson