Warship Graveyard of Chuuk Lagoon

Under the clear blue waters of Chuuk Atoll in the South Pacific, seven degrees north of the equator, near New Guinea, lies the wreck of a dozen Japanese warships, more than thirty merchant ships, and hundreds of aircrafts. The fleet was once stationed in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk, which was a major base of the Japanese Imperial Navy in the South Pacific, during the Second World War. The armada included battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, tankers, cargo ships, tugboats, gunboats, minesweepers, landing craft, and submarines. It was Japan's equivalent of the Americans' Pearl Harbor The atoll was located within range of the Marshall Islands and was a significant source of support for Japanese garrisons located on islands and atolls throughout the central and south Pacific. These islands had facilities such as airstrips, submarine repair shops, a communications center, and a radar station. Coastal defense guns and mortar emplacements protected these facilities. With thousands of troops and heavy armament among the islands, Truk had become the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” and a significant threat to Allied operation in the Pacific. Neutralization of this threat became essential for the Allies. "Operation Hailstone" was the code name for the assault on Truk Lagoon, which was carried out on February 17th and 18th, 1944. Over 500 airplanes, five fleet carriers, four light carriers, seven battleships, as well as numerous cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other support ships descended on Truk Lagoon on a surprise attack. Unfortunately, the Japanese had already removed their precious aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers from the base fearing exactly this kind of a move. However, numerous smaller warships and merchant ships remained in anchorage and several hundred aircraft were stationed at the atoll's airfields. These were destroyed by Allied bombardments.