Heian Maru Wreck
The Heian Maru wreck is the largest in the lagoon at 155m (510ft), the Heian Maru was built in 1930 as a passenger cargo ship. Recalled to Japan during a normal voyage between Hong Kong and Seattle in 1941 she was then converted to a submarine tender. Her name is found in English and Japanese on the hull and she was named after the ancient city of Heinkyo, “The City of Peace and Tranquility.”
Sunk on her port side and sitting between 10 and 30m (35-100ft) of water one of the most notable parts of the Heian Maru are Type 95, 7m (23ft) long torpedoes that are stored upright in the forward holds. Artifacts have also been gathered from inside the ship and placed together including a fantastic medical kit with several different colored bottles.
She was sunk on February 18, 1944 taking a total of 18 men with her.
Photographs of the Heian Maru Wreck:
Read also:
- Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon, list with all known shipwrecks in Chuuk.
- Ship graveyard in Truk Lagoon, stunning pictures and informative article on the Ghost Fleet of Chuuk.
- Airplane wrecks in Truk Lagoon, next to dozens of Japanese vessels also Japanese airplane wrecks can be found in Chuuk Lagoon.
- Nippo Maru, (aka Nichiho Maru) was torpedoed and sunk in the Balabac Strait west of the Palawan Passage.
- San Fransico Maru, sunk on the 18th of February, 1944 taking 5 crewmen with her.
- Rio de Janeiro Maru, bombed and damaged in the Pacific Ocean east of Umon Island, Truk by United States Navy aircraft. She sank the next day.
- Kiyosumi Maru, auxiliary cruiser which was sunk in the Pacific Ocean off Fefan Island, Truk by United States Navy aircraft.
- Yamagiri Maru, sank by dive bombers from the Yorktown and Bunker Hill.
- Fujikawa Maru, she was sunk on February 18, 1944 by diver bombers.
- Fumitsuki Destroyer, one of only two made-for-war ships sunk in Chuuk.
- Shinkoku Maru, naval tanker that was sunk in February, 1944.
- Hoki Maru, a British/New Zealand cargo and passenger ship launched in 1921 and seized by the Japanese in 1942. Sunk.
Literature:
- Bailey, Dan E.,: WWII Wrecks of the Kwajalein and Truk Lagoons (Paperback). North Valley Diver Pubns.
- Bailey, Dan E.: World War II Wrecks of the Truk Lagoon (Hardcover). North Valley Diver Pubns.
- Lindemann, Klaus: Hailstorm Over Truk Lagoon: Operations Against Truk by Carrier Task Force 58, 17 and 18 February 1944, and the Shipwrecks of World War II (Hardcover). Wipf & Stock Pub.
- MacDonald, Rod: Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks (Hardcover). Whittles Publishing.
Visual media:
- Franko Maps Ltd: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon Dive & Wreck Map & Operation Hailstone Franko Maps (Maps)
- Gerken, Mike: The Wrecks of Truk Lagoon – A Documentary Film (DVD). Evolution Underwater Imaging LLC.
