Diving the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon - Part I
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- Опубліковано 29 кві 2012
- Part I of our incredible adventure of diving the shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon, all sunk in 1944 in Operation Hailstone; thus 68 years underwater. These wrecks - including a submarine and Betty Bomber - each carry their own remarkable story, and within their holds and engine rooms the remarkable collection of the tools of War: Zero fighter aircraft, battle tanks, vehicles, trucks, and munitions & ordinance of every kind ... as well as the remains of the sailors who died aboard in unimaginable circumstances.
Our adventure took place with Capt JJ and Kim, as well as the awesome crew of m/v Odyssey. All video was shot with a GoPro Hero II; unfortunately with a flat lens housing that suffered a blurry spot dead centre screen.
+Phil Blake, in these days of rehashed videos uploaded on multiple channels, it's a real treat to find this excellent production published by the original source. I'm impressed. My father spent 39 months in the Pacific during WWII--from New Caledonia to Bougainville to Guadalcanal. He talked about it rarely, but I've always felt a connection to his experience because it was a part of him and therefore of me. Thank you so much. My father: U.S Army (1939-1963). Myself: Army Brat, USAF (1968-1972).
Wright Flyer, thank you for the genuine and awesome feedback - it is consistently touching to hear from the second generation (sadly those that had a part to play in WWII - including my grandfather, are fewer with each passing day). These sacred wrecks and waters were very moving, and I hope my little video made proper tribute to those that lost their lives there. Do watch Part II of the video (same title, just part II) to see the other wrecks that we dove.
+Phil Blake, I'm definitely looking forward to Part II. Thanks again.
I send you greetings again. I wish you well. 👍
@@johndoe-nf1ty Thanks for the thoughts. Doing OK here, but will feel better (at least emotionally) when my PACT Act claim for Agent Orange exposure is approved. Multiple myeloma and the resultant chemo treatments aren't fun, but the big payoff from Uncle Sam will ease the burden a bit. Maybe I'll get the 1969 Z/28 Camaro I should have bought in '69.... 😺
Welcome an I do hope it all goes well an you can get justice an a bit of closure too.@@wrightflyer7855
Checking back in after a whole 6 years! Still love the video Sir. ^_^
This is one of the best videos of underwater diving I have seen. I love this. Great camera and light work all around. I love shipwrecks and underwater exploration. It is also cool we have the last name. LOL. Great video. Thank you for sharing.
Jim, greatly appreciate the feedback, and from a fellow Blake no less! (we are the New Zealand Blakes!). It's a real pleasure to share the incredible Chuuk experiences, and have them enjoyed by others. Hope you get to do Truk one day - go before the wrecks degrade any further!
Why does this video not have over a million views?
Spent a week diving there in 1977....about as awesome as diving can get
1977! That was only eight short years after Jacques Costeau's expedition to Truk/Chuuk, and was it before the Japanese expedition to recover and cremate the remains of their sailors? We had amazing dives - yours must have been a whole magnitude more moving, as the years' since have not been kind to iron wrecks!
It was Cousteau's show on Truk that inspired me to go. Its funny the locals werent too cray about him... Owner of the Blue Lagoon dive shop (Kimeo Isack) complained how his program DID increase tourism but that Jaques tooo ALOT of artifacts with him when he left.
By 1977, the Japanese had recovered most of the bodies. The Trukese "hid" a few to bring out and show us tourists. After we were done photographing them they would bring them back into the bowels of the ship for "safe storage".
just looking at how pristine these ships were preserved brings chills through your body to think of what the sailors endured on deployment and how the ships got to where they are now
Indeed! The condition of the various wrecks varied tremendously on their quality of their build. The destroyer - built very lightly for speed - was in the worst condition of all wrecks. The submarine was in excellent cond., as was the luxury cruise liners requisitioned for the Japanese war effort. Diving thru these ships, and occasionally seeing the remains of their crew was incredibly moving. Couldn't recommend visiting these wrecks enough, albeit not for the faint hearted!
Wow that was fantastic, great video, I know where my next holiday will be. Cheers.
+mrwezbo Good one! Can highly recommend Chuuk, if you're a confident diver comfortable with overhead environments.
A fantastic Short movie and I found very good that you write the important things that everybody understand this.
+Joshua Garvens Thanks Joshua; yes, I thought the captions necessary to even begin to convey the human story behind these majestic wrecks. Thanks for your feedback.
philby i am so impressed with this- the difficulty of the dives and the professionalism of your filming.
Good one - Odyssey was just awesome, JJ and Kim run a great ship. Enjoy the incredible diving!
A really nice quality video. Thanks for sharing it.
You're welcome Ron - thanks for the feedback!
Awesome video ! Thank you so much for sharing this as I hope to dive there myself one day. Definitely on 'the bucket list' !
You must go Scottie - this remains one of the most incredible experiences for me.
"The hold of a thousand beer bottles..." :D
".....their caps long since corroded away." D:
Damn it man!! What a waste!!
+Zhian Pang The hold of beer bottles - and in fact that particular wreck - was one of my favourites. It was such a large ship that you'd need many, many dives to explore it properly and give it justice.
Gustavo, many thanks mate! Unforgettable diving indeed - I cannot recommend it enough to go to Truk. The liveaboard m/v Odyssey, Capt JJ and Kim were just awesome and ran a pitch perfect operation. My dive buddy and I don't stop talking about it, and would go back at a drop of a hat! Planning a possible Bikini Atoll trip one day!
Hi Phil!! what an incredible video...! i for one LOVED the music, both the awolnation song and all of the classicals as well. BOTH were fitting tributes & matched the energy of the dives & adventure. my navy pilot grandfather would have wanted some music with a beat to get pumped to & you rocked it. now THAT my friend, is respect :)
Christine, many thanks - love the feedback! All of the diving in Chuuk is incredibly moving, and one is always conscious that you're visiting the final resting places of many...incredibly moving. I suspect you saw and reference an earlier comment on music choice; glad you agree that the SAIL song is fitting, taken together with the classical pieces. Music of course is highly personal and subjective! I'd hope that viewers judge the piece - as you have - as a whole, and recognize that its intent and spirit was wholly respectful of those who lost their lives on these ships.
so i had the BEST time in Chuuk over New Year's- WOW!!! so incredible!!! it definitely lived up to your video!!!
in case you're curious: here's my photos:
facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155104889765357&type=1&l=f14d13939d
+Christine Gordon Just checked out your photos - awesome Christine! Hope your dive buddy didn't damage her sinuses??
I'M IMPRESSED WITH THIS VIDEO. ..A LOT OF MONEY LAYING ON THE BOTTOM OF TRUK LAGOON!!
A very popular place. Truk has shipwrecks from WW2 laying directly on top of shipwrecks from WW1.
Awesome music and video. Ive always wanted to scuba dive, a trip back in time, id call it history diving myself.
Wonderful classical music.
Amazing eerie footage.
Gary H thank you for your feedback. Yes, it was eerie indeed!
Fantastic and moving footage. Appreciate the explanatory captions too. Thank you.
Thanks James, appreciate your comment!
Honestly this is fantastic, i would say this was one of the best videos on UA-cam. Fantastic footage, heartbreaking seeing all the bones of the men lying around. Im 14 and ive dived Thistlegorm and that was incredible, but this....this is on a whole new level. When i get older and can go deeper, i hope to go to these wrecks and go deep into the core of them. Great video, please keep up the good work.
Awesome video Phil really enjoyed the music to especially at the beginning and at 11:00 wicked violin playing I saw Pt2 first I'm going to have to check out your videos Cheers
Cheers JB!
Overhead environment and no reel, you must feel immortal
Peter, virtually all of our diving on this trip was in overhead environments. Not for the faint hearted for sure, but for the more challenging wrecks we had an experienced divemaster leading through the innards of these shipwrecks. A reel in these environments would simply become horribly entangled, and risk other divers.
As a wreck diver of Subic Bay Philippines... this is great video with series of excellent footage. Nice visibility.
wavy jin thank you!
My man, congratulations on the footage. Amazing video with great captions and unbelievable diving. Really looking forward to go to Truk sometime in the future. Cheers for sharing that!!!!
You alive? Wow i was 4 when you posted this comment
I'm going here next February. Can't wait!
Thanks for the awesome feedback Rylesly - great to hear! This location and trip is the stuff of dreams, and I was ready to return the day I left. We are in fact planning a trip again either this year, or for 2014 - felt like we only just scratched the surface! I'm dead keen to dive the Thistlegorm one day!
Wonderful video and for once, very nice music. Thank you !
Thank you Tetreault! My pleasure and thanks for watching
Don't touch anything, respect.... Trukeeeeeerz!!!😎
This is such a cool video! I loved how you put in subtitles cause I didn’t always understand what I was seeing. The engine room bit made even me anxious!
Jesse McIver thank you for the feedback!
Theres something magical, in a sense, about seeing these ships. They will remain at the bottom of the sea, along with those who went down with them. Wow!
+ComicBookCrunch Thanks for your comments - indeed, these dive sites are extraordinary, and the history that they represent is incredibly moving. One doesn't get this sort of experience on land!
+Phil Blake Very true Phil. Thanks for the video!
Good Luck with that..someday I'll finally be doing what you're doing..I can't imagine the experience to actually be there to touch and see all that historical remaining.
Love the video, Thank You for posting,
+john doe my pleasure. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
I can only imagine, it looks like it was such an amazing experience to have had with everyone.
If I may ask, did you sometimes feel while diving on certain ships as if you where being watched, by the former sailors?
+john doe Can't say that we did, but there is no question that you feel you are in a very, very special place.
Nods, I can imagine it is unlike anywhere else in the world to be diving on these ships.
Fantastic MWOH - absolutely, there is serious, serious history in your home land/waters, and do see it before time and corrosion (and divers!) do too much damage. I am planning another trip in 2014!
Amazing Truk lagoon. Wreck diving in world...
I spent a week at Truuk in 2007. Except for Bikini, the best dive vacation ever.
Wow, I can't believe I'm from there. My grandpa was alive during the invasion.
+Neddy Micky Awesome Neddy. Your homeland - and waters - hold some incredibly rich historical treasures. We really enjoyed visiting Chuuk.
Wade, in Chuuk it is illegal to remove anything from the wrecks, for obvious reasons. Handling the innumerable (literally countless) objects on these vessels was a bit of a gray area - the divemasters (mostly local, and superb) had no qualms handling objects, however, would generally return the item to where it was found. What is without doubt way beyond ethical behaviour by many divers over the years on these wrecks is rearranging human remains, usually for posing a photograph.
Thanks! Guys that was awesome!
Im from CHUUK and now try to get my scuba diving license here in Cali side to go do just that!!!...I grew up thinking I had visited every single islands, domains and hidden corners of all the islands and ocean water of Chuuk realizing there's that one last spot. I need to go down beneath and visit the ghost fleet where I haven't go...
great video !
Cheers Brendan!
simple but great footage just increases my curiosity of the wrecks , from this i am not sure however why safety lines were not in use in the overhead environments .
Trevor, good question; for the complex wrecks, we were generally led by an experienced local divemaster. Other wrecks you could generally see the exits and light.
Trevor, thanks for your comment - valid points. The beauty of many of these wrecks were that they were relatively straightforward penetrations, with multiple daylight openings visible. That said, a few penetrations (for example through the stern torpedo blast hole in part 1 thru to the engine room; or the engine room of the haien maru with human remains fused to a deck beam - not depicted) were fairly involved and necessitated the guiding of the excellent dive masters on the Odyssey.
Great! Odyssey or Thorfinn? Life long memories and would go back again immediately!
Congratulazioni. bellissimo video. :)
Mille grazie Gianluca! Glad you liked it.
I remember the 1970’s Jacques Cousteau doc at Truk - when they found remains and a skull: “an zen we saw a veesion of deeth”.
beautiful relics...feel bad for the poor dude who's remains you had found.
+Ev Da Thanks for your comment. Yes, the remains (note plural) were always a very solemn encounter, and each re-told the tragic story of the whole War. The majority of the Japanese sailors' remains were removed in a national expedition many years ago, and their remains cremated in a special ceremony by Japanese priests. That said, the expedition could not recover all. The original Jacque Cousteau expeditions (in the 70's) encountered many a sad scene within the ships.
Caska, thanks for the feedback - the name of the first song is 'Sail' by AWOL nation - wicked song!
i think its amazing those bottles are still sitting upright on the surgeons table like that
+Eric S Eric: while it's not permitted to touch objects, divers will now and then stand these objects upright or pose them for a photo. A definite no-no was disturbing the human remains, which we encountered in perhaps every other wreck.
Great video. Inspired to go there and dive myself now.
Quick question for non native English speaker, what is "LOA" an abbreviation for?
If you read the excellent Dan Baily book about Truk Lagoon, he makes the simple point that western divers wouldn't dream of going into a WWII graveyard and rearranging remains; why treat these wrecks differently? What was common to see was 'artifact displays', where objects from deep within the ships were brought out to prominent deck areas so that divers not comfortable with overhead environments could also enjoy seeing these artifacts.
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing! Did you have a guide through all the ships or did you just go in and figure out what stuff was?
+Dennis C My pleasure and thanks for the feedback. Prior to every dive, we received a thorough dive briefing on the various sections of the site, highlights of what to expect and look out for, potential dangers etc. That said, I believe we probably asked for either our divemaster Sam, or dive leader Kim (wife of the skipper) to guide us through the majority of the wrecks. Both of them are superb. There is so, so much to explore on these ships, and so many hidden compartments that having a guide makes for a much more rewarding and obviously safer experience. Where the ships' compartments were more obvious and logical, we chose to dive unguided.
thanks buddy! :)
This is absolutely incredible to see. I plan on becoming an Open Water PADI Certified Diver (and eventually Adventure Certification), and I hope that I'll do things like this some day. What camera did you use? If it was a GoPro, what mount did you use? Did you use any lens filters? Thanks!
+Frank Palermo Frank, thanks for your feedback. That's superb that you're planning to get your certification - you might have done so already! The Chukk dive liveaboard we did accepts Open Water certified divers, as long as they are comfortable and able under water. I must admit this surprised me (that they accept OW) for what is pretty narly diving conditions, but their attitude after doing this for many years is that the most dangerous divers - and most liable to injure themselves - are the ones who are overconfident and brimming with qualifications!
Yes, I used a GoPro hero 2 at the time, with a custom flat lens housing which didn't deeper pressures well (hence why a lot of my footage is sadly slightly blurry - the housing was pressing against the glass lens of the gopro; this issue has long since been addressed with the flat lens housings of the GoPro3 onwards). The mount was atop of my large dive torch; again not hugely recommended, as you get light burn in your videos. My current set-up is on a Backscatter hand held frame for GoPros (now on my edition 4), with a bendy arm for a Light & Motion 2100 sola video light. Much improved ;) No lens filters used.
Thanks philster! :) The dive buddy helps too :-)
Hi, mate. Greate video, i have really enjoyed it.Can you trell me the name of the music played in the beginning?
That's 'Sail' by AWOL Nation - awesome song indeed!
Sail by Awolnation i love the remix as well...
What better way to punctuate the somber resting place of dead warfighters than with Sail by Awolnation.
Chips, my choice of Sail for the opening piece has been contentious with some :-) But, even in retrospect i think it kicked off the video nicely, followed by the classical pieces that round off the video, as well as part II (which is all classical).
❤️
Hi Phil, Apologies if you've already answered this in one of your posts. I would like to dive Chuk early next year, can you recommend a company that offers this as a package, preferably a live a board.
Thanks
Jason
Jason, the operator I would recommend is m/v Odyssey, with Capt JJ and Kim. They were awesome, and struck the right balance as a liveaboard operator: professionalism, hospitality, and simply great people!
Miss my home...
Hi guys from Russia. We are also engaged in underwater hunting diving. But we is prohibited by law. But if you really want it is possible))) so we say.
Odyssey I think. Should be good!
👌🏻how they don’t block the music ?
Sacred place.
+Heru- deshet Indeed!
siempre que uno no realize ningun saqueo,tengo entendido que se puede bucear en cualquier resto de naufragio,pero al menos aca en Argentina no hay muchos pecios sumergidos y los pocos naufragios en superficie estan protegidos por las leyes nacionales...en cuanto a los restos de combates,se los considera "tumba de guerra" y esta prohibido acercarse.
Sgt Mumford, hopefully with time! ;-)
The Sale song makes the video seem a little funny for a diving theme. Great video though!
+Waylon Gilmore Thanks Waylon. Yes, I know AWOL's SAIL is perhaps an unusual choice, but I wanted to start the video upbeat and with a great track. Hope you thought the following tracks (mostly classical) were fitting ;-)
2rvd2, let me know which piece you're referring to and i'll be happy to advise.
incredible music can somebody give me a hint on the names?
This is my home.
what kind of camera can be used underwater? ~what did you use & how much$$
There are different types of underwater video cameras, but what I used in these was a GoPro camera. Especially when filming underwater, light is key, so you'd also need an artificial light source.
thanks good to know something as simple as gopro can do it:)
How do you go so deep on 1 tank? Also do you not get nitrogen narcosis? I only been to 35feet and I cant imagine going deep as you and not freaking out, lol. Awesome video.
i don't think they were referring to the depth but the length of the shipwreck
Hi Lifter015, thanks for your comments. We were diving on enriched air (nitrox) for the entire duration of the trip, typically 32% or 24%, depending on depth of dive. Yes it was all single cylinder, albeit large steel tank. The deepest dive was on the San Francisco Maru (to 61m), with only about nine minutes bottom time and a 25 minute deco stop! Incredible diving/memories - i'd go back to Chuuk in a heartbeat.
61m on air with a single? Are you mad?!?
the first song thats played lol
SAIL!
Why do people feel the need to ruin a perfectly good video with head banging music?
David, if you listen further into both videos, it reverts to mostly classical pieces. When I made this back in 20212 (?) I felt it needed something with pace to begin the video :)
Is it legal to touch the artifacts there? Most dive sites forbid the handling or disturbing of any part of the wreck.
Wade, it was not encouraged for sure, and definitely not allowed to take any souvenirs away. The liveaboard's divemasters would generally pick up the more sensitive things to show you; have to admit i might have picked up a couple of things (a whole rack of live fifty caliber rounds comes to mind), but put them back where I found them.
if truck lagoon is tech diving why is every one only wearing 1 tank? I thought that with tech diving you should have at least two?
Chris, full blown tech diving is not a must at Chuuk (ie mixed gas diving). The majority of our group were on nitrox (enriched air), which is a compulsory rating to join the trip (Nitrox, amongst other benefits is generally safer due to the reduced amount of nitrogen, and thus a lower likelihood of decompression sickness occurring). The minority were 'tech divers' as you addressed, but rather encumbered with gear. On nitrox we were on single cylinders. You'll see a couple of divers with side mounts (twin tanks) in the video.
Wait are those real bones?
Yes, M M. All of these wrecks are war graves from WWII.
wait who died the scuba diver?
Shower Ferriol no, the Japanese sailors aboard their respective ships died when their ships were sunk in WWII. However, aboard the submarine, yes, a diver perished as he entered the engine room and became disorientated.
Just wondering what music this is so I never put it with my videos 😂😂😂😂😂😭😭
8:04 reversed footage, fish swimming backwards
Cody King well spotted ;-) Thought the scene made better sense in reverse.
@@philblake3765 Had me trippin' out at first, man. I was like wow, they're swimming backwards. Wait, ALL of them are swimming backwards!
You think man would learnt,,, nope
1:03 that hairline tho..
;-D
The music dosent suit this vid . I want the silence that would be there ...
Fair point Valentino, but i trust the classical pieces after the opening Sail music suited the subject.
A little quality narration would be good instead of that annoying racket which you probably call music.
*Truk
Jason Smith *Chuuk
Nice footage... shame about the horrid soundtrack.
Music ruins it.
Stephen Williams recommend you watch past the first music piece Sail; thereafter I think you’d appreciate it and think it fitting.
Good filming bloody awful inappropriate music ffs.
Sorry you didn't like SAIL by AWOL, Grenville. It's a bit of marmite song, but definitely elicits feedback! If you watched on, you'd hear classical music throughout the rest of the video(s). I wanted something upbeat for the opening, and don't regret using SAIL! Appreciate the good filming comment, nevertheless.
Sorry but where has respect for the war dead gone? Once people had respect for these sunken tombs, they would look outside but not go in so as to not disturb the war dead, now it’s a free for all all so it can get likes on the internet. You’d think that the Americans would know better because of how they are with pearl harbour.
Thumbs down for stupid music.
Charlie the Tuna keep watching until after Sail. I don’t think you’d object to the music after sail ;-)
Ghost Fleet? Are you trying to be funny? You missed the mark. Why don't you call it the Casper the friendly ghost fleet?
456swagger - In 1969, William A. Brown and French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and his team explored Truk Lagoon. Following Cousteau's 1971 television documentary about the lagoon and its ghostly remains, the place became a scuba diving paradise, drawing wreck diving enthusiasts from around the world to see its numerous, virtually intact sunken ships. The shipwrecks and remains are sometimes referred to as the "Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon".
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuuk_Lagoon#/media/File%3ATruk_Lagoon.png