Dive site
Shinkoku Maru
Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia
- Typical depth
- 38 m
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Advanced
Notes
167 m Japanese fleet oiler bombed by carrier aircraft during Operation Hailstone, 17–18 Feb 1944. Upright with mast tips at 12 m and keel at ~39 m; bridge holds operating-room equipment, sake bottles, and porcelain.
Marine life
- Other
- intact operating room with surgical tools, sake bottles and porcelain in the bridge
- Corals
- hard and soft coral encrusting the entire superstructure — among the most marine-grown wrecks in Chuuk
- Sharks
- grey reef shark
- Reef fish
- lionfish, batfish, snapper, grouper, glassfish
Wreck
- Vessel
- Shinkoku Maru
- Class
- Imperial Japanese Navy fleet oiler
- Origin
- Imperial Japan
- Sunk
- 1944 — bombed amidships by SBD Dauntless dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-10) during Operation Hailstone, 17 Feb 1944; sank ~4 days later
- Length
- 167 m
- Penetration
- Possible — with training
Site features
- Wreck
- Penetration
- Historic
- Overhead Environment
- War Grave
- Engine Room
- Intact Superstructure
- Coral Encrusted
When to dive
- Best
- Dec–Apr
- Avoid
- Jul–Sep
Same Chuuk dry-season window as the other Marus. Shinkoku Maru is one of the lagoon's most heavily marine-life-encrusted wrecks — coral has grown over the railings, davits and bridge wings.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 15–30 m
- Water temp
- 28–30 °C
- Current
- Mild
- Access
- Open access
- Min cert
- Advanced Open Water + wreck specialty for the upper hull and bridge at 12–25 m; deep + wreck-penetration training and stage gas for the engine room and holds at 30–38 m.
Location
7.3333° N, 151.8833° 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 2 sources
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