Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon a Diving Adventure to the ghost fleet of World War II
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- Опубліковано 22 гру 2024
- In February 1944 the United States launched Operation Hailstone - often referred to as Japan's Pearl Harbor - a surprise naval air attack that lasted 3 days. It decimated the Japanese fleet. More than 230 aircraft were destroyed and more than 50 ships sunk. It unintentionally created one of the best wreck diving destinations in the world.
We dove here on the 74th anniversary of the attack. Many lives were lost a sobering week of scuba diving for sure!
Thanks for watching.
So much beauty amidst so much sorrow
The Japanese got too bloodthirsty.
Beautiful and haunting at the same time. I can definitely see why Truk is Mecca for diving enthusiasts around the world. Thanks for sharing your adventure!
Thanks for watching and taking the time to leave a comment.
Amazing footage. A snapshot of time from a horrible world. Someday man might learn not to make war upon each other…
Fantastically well done, thank you.
And thank you for taking the time to comment I truly appreciate it.
Having dived the area, your footage has to be commended, clear and detailed. The colours of the coral and fish were striking.
Thank you so much for your comment Terry. I truly appreciate it.
@@peterneubauer9712 u r welcome, there is a newly discovered Jap sub of one of the main Islands north of plum pudding island where Kennedy lost PT 109. The Gizo dive shop should know where it is: it is upright and in good condition:
Very nice 👍 thanks for sharing
Peter did you take a tour of tunnels and gun emplacements? I and our group were able to do it! I understand that there are tunnels from one end of the island to the other. I was shocked to see rails in the ground, seems theycwere used to move the guns in and out! So even if the gun emplacement was attacked, the guns weren't damaged. To get the set up all they needed to do was remove any debris and run them out! The field of fire from inside was incredible. And even knowing where the emplacement was, you couldn't see from outside. I so want to go back! Great people, great history!
Wow very interesting Jeff, I didn't know about the tunnels. Although it doesn't surprise me. Very hard fought battles for sure. I spent most of my time in the lagoon diving, I can only imagine the artifacts you can find on the island itself. Although early photographs show many islands burned down to almost nothing.
Thanks for watching and your comment.
@peterneubauer9712 From my understanding, the Japanese were there for years before the war fortifying it. The hotel I stayed at had the only paved road on the island as it had been a seaplane base. There was at least 1 concrete gun emplacement by the edge of the taxiway near the water. With hidden a gun emplacement above it, within the hill behind.
@@peterneubauer9712 how long were you there? We were there and dove for 7 days.
@@jeffrains9569 Yeah same here 7 days with lots of dives. We did spend one day on the island and tried to arrange a day/hike tour but it didn't happen due to access. Seems there are private land owners that may not give permission to drive through their land. Sounds weird hat was my experience.
@@peterneubauer9712 we took a tour near a school, believe it was a middle school. Can't remember for sure. The kids were excited to see us.
The bottles landing upright is amazing considering the chaos.
A diver probably arranged them upright.
@@treystephens6166 Just like they did the gas masks
@@Normandy1944 right 👍🏻
Wow. Beautiful shot video myy friend
Amazing video. Showing the human element is a bit startling remembering that thousands of people lost their lives when these ships and planes went down!!! I was captivated during the whole video… Thank you and well done!!!!
Thank you Shaun! Yes - horrible when you read the first hand accounts of all the lives lost. Explosions, chaos and confusion descended on this small group of islands in Micronesia. Thanks again for watching and taking the time to comment.
Hi Peter, very nice and qualitative video, I was there in feb 2023! This was a great dive experience and good memories! My grand father fought the japanese in the Pacific and was POW in Japan.
Oh I'm sure your grand father has some interesting stories to tell. And the fact that you were able to dive Truk is pretty cool.
All the destruction of war mixed with the sea life makes this video stunning brilliant piece of filming
Thank you for the kind words Dave. I appreciate it!
It's trips and videos from them that made me want to learn to dive...I just never did, gettin' a bit old to do that now. Quite a wonderful and quality video you have brought us, I appreciate you sharing. My father fought in WWII in the US Army ..503rd Spec Ops, fought in New Guinea, Admirality Islands and Philippines.
Well I'm glad I was able to take you on these dives through my video even if you are not a diver. I would imagine your Dad had some interesting stories about his time in the Pacific during WWII. Many horrific days for sure. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. I truly appreciate it and your fathers service.
Wahnsinn herzlichen Dank fürs mitnehmen 🙏💪🤩🤙👌
Gerne geschehen und ich freue mich, dass es Ihnen gefallen hat.
@@peterneubauer9712 gefallen… bin fasziniert , und hab ein neues tauch Ziel im Auge ☺️! Herzlichen Dank 😊
Amazing. The stories here associated with war and death but also paradise and sea life remind me of Avatar: The Way of Water. I can tell James Cameron had inspiration from these kind of places.
Not to mention there's rumors of the lagoon being haunted by those Japanese soldiers who died....
Yes interesting how tragic the event was but now filled with beautiful marine life. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.
I do believe it is haunted
Amazing videos! Congratulations from Brazil!!! My bucket lis for sure!
Muito obrigado
So hauntingly beautiful 🙏🏽❤️
Thank You !! 😄
Nice video. My wife and I dove on some of those ships about 8 years ago while she was out there for some research (she is an oceanographer). The history of the place is remarkable, and the coral growth is now all but completely obscuring some of the ships. It is great diving for sure.
We were told by our guide that the locals used to dive on some of the ships to collect the cordite for but I understand that most of it is now gone or not much use as an explosive anymore.
Between deep dives, we would go to an island and have a picnick and maybe snorkel on a wrecked plane or some coral.
Very cool. Sounds like you got to spend quite a bit of time there especially if the wife was doing her research. I heard the same story about the locals salvaging explosive material that at times did not end well. Thanks for watching!
@@peterneubauer9712 I joined her after her work, so I didn't stay too long. We stayed at the Truk Stop hotel.
We also went out to Pohnpei for part of the trip and did some reef diving out there, (and also picked up a manta dive since there were some nearby).
I lived on truk as a kid in the 50s. Returned in the latter years. One thing that is no longer seen is all the masts sticking out of the water. My mother ran a small motel near the water front and one of the small ships ran aground and that was sutting in front of the motel. Some military guys showed up to look for the missing submarine known to have been sunk. They eventually found it. Bodies were recovered by japan. Some folks died diving it if what i heard was correct. I think its sealed now. Those guys showed me a lot of pictures showing the big bombing raid. Could see the ship in front getting bombed. It was going out but returned to the island to ground itself. Custeau dived them and made a documentary.
Wow interesting that you spent time in Chuuk. I'm sure your mother would have known Kimiuo Aisek he was Micronesia's first trained scuba diver. He opened a dive shop called Blue Lagoon Dive Shop on November 13, 1973. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 74. Scuba divers from around the world started showing up to dive the Lagoon and he had access to an air compressor so he was a popular man back in the day. Thanks for watching the video and wow so cool that you have personal experience in such a remote part of the world!
@@peterneubauer9712 not sure about who my mom knew but wouldn't doubt that she did. The small hotel was called the mar mar. But yea, that was when diving started opening up there.
Thanks for sharing this excellent video. I’ll be on the Odyssey in January, 2024.
Oh cool you are gonna love the diving and the Odyssey is great boat. My tip would be to dive with one of the guides right away. They know these wrecks so well and can take you to the interesting areas quickly. Most of the wrecks are quite large. My guide was Maddy he was cool.
I think I'll want a guide for every dive! Thanks for the advice. We are doing 3 days in Palau as well.@@peterneubauer9712
Any advice for shooting video? I have GP 11 and video lights.
@@peterneubauer9712
Now on my bucket list
A wise choice indeed. You will love the diving there.
What a spectacularly beautiful site
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment. Glad you enjoyed it!
Got to do that back in 1976 (also Palau) Trip of a lifetime. Had Nikonos II camera which for picture quality doesn't hold a candle to todays cameras (even the cheaper ones).
Wow 1976, I can't even imagine how much the wrecks have changed since then. My first camera was a Nikonos IV that I bought in Hong Kong when I was in the Navy. You're gonna laugh, I shot this whole video with a GoPro 11 and two video lights. Yes quite a difference from the old film days. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I have a Palau video on my channel if you are interested.
Oh my. I was wondering what super duper setup you shot it with... A gopro! I'm there now doing some videos with a GoPro 10 and 2 lights (well, one now that one is dead) and it doesn't look 1/10th as good as yours! How do you even get that much colour and detail out? Mine are yellow where the lights reach and green beyond
I love how these shipwrecks become habitat.
My grandfather was a pilot who participated in "Operation Hailstone". He flew TBFs during the war.
Wow, amazing, I got certified to dive when I was 14 by Padi I think it was about 2 or 3 week course, but that was 34 years ago so can not remember. I have not dived much since then because I moved out here to Oklahoma from where I got lived at the time which was the west coast of Florida in Sarasota. Anyway that looks amazing. Seeing all those ordinances would raise the hair on my neck not knowing if they were still live or not.
Thanks so much for watching my video. Yeah the ordinances were a bit unnerving, apparently some of the locals would salvage them and use them for fishing kinda like dynamite fishing. Kinda crazy!!
Beautiful and sad music very beautiful
I know it’s very interesting but sometimes I feel it’s desiccation of a war grave. So many died as did the allies at Pearl Harbour. Just sometimes it feels wrong. But a stunning glimpse into how the sea life take over making it beautiful.
I understand your feelings regarding "desiccation of a war grave" a horrific event without a doubt. As time marches on a new life emerges from all the death and destruction. Thanks for your comment and having an open mind to see what it is like after 74 years.
Eerily beautiful. I wonder when this was 1st. Dived on?
The locals dove the shipwrecks right after the war and used some of the ordinance for fishing in the lagoon. In 1969 Jacques Cousteau released the documentary "Lagoon of Lost Ships" which opened up the idea of shipwreck diving to recreational scuba divers. Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment.
Fun fact: by the peace treaty with Japan in 1945 to end the war they started, Japan is responsible for any clean up, anywhere where it’s forces fought.
Interesting, I wonder if the Micronesian government is holding them to it? There are ongoing projects to mitigate the fuel/oil issues that could harm the fragile ecosystem.
@@peterneubauer9712 Na, the Japanese have given the middle finger. So much for atonement eh? The same treaty excludes Japan from Antarctica, but they’ve ignored it to kill whales.
@@seanlander9321 it’s a war grave
@@MrBothandNether The oil leaking out has nothing to do with that.
Can I ask as you are on a single what mix you are on diving the San Fran .. assuming it's just air ? .. also what dive time did you do .. any deco and what mix was in the extra cylinder .. thanks
The San Francisco Maru was by far the deepest wreck I dove while in Chuuk. My max depth was 167 feet and I used a 23% Nitrox mix.
On all the other wrecks I typically used a 30% nitrox mix. A handful of dives during our week we did go into deco but always under 5 minutes or so. We made sure we had enough gas to complete deco and a safety stop. The dive boat also had spare gas hanging under the boat just in case we needed it (which we didn't).
Hard to avoid since most wrecks are below 60 feet so considered deep dives. I will have to admit if you want to do Truk Lagoon right you should use doubles or rebreather and technical diving gas mixes.
Hope that answers your questions. And thanks for watching my video!
Why is there no fuel or oil leaks from these wrecks? Or, is it something that isn't shown? Watched many different dives and historical accounts of the attack so seems there should/would be residual fuel/oil leaks like there is with the USS ARIZONA.
Great question Tom! Unfortunately you are correct - oil and fuel is leaking from some of these wrecks. There were some areas on the wrecks that we were told not to go because of the exposure risk. Several organizations are attempting to mitigate the potential environmental catastrophe a large fuel or oil spill would create. Everything from identifying which wrecks are still holding fuel/oil, corrosion protection, bioremediation using bacteria to break down the oil and even using absorbent material contained in plastic bags and carried to the surface by divers. It's an ongoing effort for sure.
Really wish I could do something like this. I’m one of the few semi young people who actually understands how devastating this war was
Sounds like you have some knowledge or know someone that was involved with Operation Hailstone or WWII in the Pacific.
Bucket list trip for me I've known about this wreck diving destination for years and finally got to experience it.
@@peterneubauer9712 my grandfather served, I just served 8 years myself. I know how the military is now but it fascinates me to learn how things used to work/what made what we have today.
@@freedomisntfree_44 Yeah I served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman attached to a Marine Corp unit for eight years. So i know what you mean. Always interesting how things change. Thanks for watching my video
@@peterneubauer9712 yes sir, thank you for the video 🤙🏽
The views were beautiful! The Japanese have a technology that we haven’t mastered yet. Their ships can be violently sunk and yet nothing on the operating table falls off. If I barely snag a pothole on the interstate, I get scalded by hot coffee. 😳
Too funny! I can relate to your coffee comment. As I'm sure you can imagine with divers going through all these spaces any interesting artifacts get propped up for other divers to see. Nothing is allowed to be taken there is a metal detector at the airport for divers leaving the island to make sure no one tries to leave with something like bullets and such.
Hi could you tell me the name of ghe music in fhe video please? Thanks j
Breath Eyes Memory Meditation by Humans Win. Thanks for watching!
@@peterneubauer9712 thank you mate
4:22, what is that?
A white tiled soaking tub it was in the medical space close to the operating room table.
What’s a Maru?
"Maru" is the Japanese word for "cycle or round". It was used by the Japanese to designate a merchant ship. Most of the merchant ships in Truk Lagoon were used to transport supplies, troops, military vehicles and guns and ammunition.
I always find the story of this battle quite distorted. In actuality, the majority of the IJN had already left the area, anticipating that a major US attack was eminent. The only Japanese ships remaining were transports and support ships. The main IJN naval fleet was gone.
Yes you are 100% correct. The ships we dove were for the most part transport and supply ships as you mentioned. The real battle ships had left in anticipation of what the United States called Operation Hailstone. Still many lives, ships and aircraft lost in that lagoon. Thanks for taking the time to add your feedback!
In actuality, the word you are looking for is "imminent"...
To nature, human conflict means nothing
Seeing this right after one on WWII ships being illegally salvaged, graves of thousands of Sailors and civilians though they are.
Enjoy these artifacts while you can. China is actively salvaging these iconic WW2 wrecks for their pre-atomic age iron. Quick search provides much more information.
Interesting I received another comment regarding China salvaging wrecks. Although because Truk Lagoon is such a popular wreck diving destination and brings money into the area I think it would be difficult to salvage any of these wrecks in this protected lagoon.
Beautiful. Moral or the story is.....Don't piss off the Americans.
167 ft with a single tank and pony bottle with 27 mins deco? Seems safe....
I kno their war memorials. But its jus a shame to see all that stuff rotting at the bottom of the lagoon. When it could b raised & restored to b put in museums.
The wrecks were all but forgotten until Jacques Cousteau did a documentaty in 1971 called "Lagoon of Lost Ships". That documentary brought divers from all over the world to dive these shipwrecks. Yes it's a shame but it's been 74 years now since Operation Hailstone and as you mentioned Joe the wrecks are rotting at the bottom of the lagoon. Now at least they are providing a home for lots of marine life. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!
@@peterneubauer9712 absolutely agree. I jus watch a vid where in southeast asia their blasting the wrecks for scrap. Knowing that their war memorials. I shoulda been clearer by saying they could raise some of the tanks, zero’s & so on to put in museum.
@@daffyduck1974 Yeah that would be cool, especially the Zero's and some of the the small one or two man tanks!
@@peterneubauer9712 exactly like i say i’d rather see them salvage as much of the equipment as poss. Restore them & put in museums for all to enjoy & learn from. Rather a bunch of grave robber salvagers turn up & start destroying it. I’m also lead to believe that stuff is or has been stolen from the Truk lagoon wrecks already.
Big diesel engine at 5:47.
Yes, pretty incredible. The inside of many of the wrecks had awesome things to find and explore. Thanks for watching.
2:51 What disrespect. These wrecks are war graves. People should not be touching or moving parts or objects. It is like someone going to the cemetery and diiging up your grandparents.
Human remains have been removed by the Japanese government and given a proper ceremony to commemorate the fallen. The tragedy was on my mind the entire time we explored these wrecks. I personally spent time in the US Navy and I understand your concern. What I think you are seeing in the video are artifacts just as an archaeologist would uncover at a historical site. I appreciate your opinion and thank you for taking the time to comment. We did not take these dives lightly.
Japan could not win after Midway. Every life lost after that was a waste😢
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