Dive site
Nippo Maru
Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia
- Typical depth
- 47 m
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Technical
Notes
'Tank wreck' — Japanese armed cargo with a Type 95 Ha-Go tank on deck, water tanker, and field guns. Cargo holds open to penetration.
Marine life
- Other
- Type 95 Ha-Go light tank on the port side of the foredeck — Chuuk's most photographed wreck detail
- Corals
- soft coral on the deck guns and king posts
- Sharks
- grey reef shark
- Reef fish
- batfish, snapper, grouper, glassfish
Wreck
- Vessel
- Nippo Maru
- Class
- armed Japanese auxiliary cargo / water tanker
- Origin
- Imperial Japan
- Sunk
- 1944 — US Navy aerial bombing during Operation Hailstone, 17–18 Feb 1944
- Length
- 108 m
- Penetration
- Possible — with training
Site features
- Wreck
- Penetration
- Deep Wreck
- Trimix
- Historic
- Overhead Environment
- Tanks On Deck
- War Grave
When to dive
- Best
- Dec–Apr
- Avoid
- Jul–Sep
Same Chuuk dry-season window as the other Marus. Nippo Maru sits upright with her deck around 40 m and superstructure shallower; the famous tank, water tanker and field artillery on the foredeck are the headline.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 15–30 m
- Water temp
- 28–30 °C
- Current
- Mild
- Access
- Open access
- Min cert
- Deep + wreck specialty for the deck dive; trimix recommended for any meaningful bottom time around the holds and engine room. Bridge area is intact and penetrable for trained wreck divers.
Location
7.3850° N, 151.8567° E
Dive clubs that visit this site
3 operators list this site on their website
- Master LiveaboardsRed Sea, Egypt · Liveaboard[source]
- Odyssey Adventures Truk LagoonChuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia · Liveaboard[source]
- Truk Stop Hotel & Dive CenterWeno, Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia · Dive centre[source]
Sources
Curated from 1 source
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