Reef/WallMarine Protected Area

Chuuk Lagoon (Truk Lagoon)

Depth: 5–30 mLevel: Open WaterDecember-April

An atoll of 245 islands that was Japan's largest naval base in the Pacific. On 17 and 18 February 1944 the American Task Force 58 launched Operation Hailstone, sinking more than forty ships and destroying more than 250 aircraft. More than sixty wrecks lie on the lagoon floor today, most of them between 30 and 60 m and many practically intact.

Depth

5–30 m

Recommended level

Open Water

Average visibility

20 m

A reef site within Chuuk Lagoon, a shallower alternative to the great wrecks nearby.

Protection status

The wrecks are designated protected monuments and war graves by the Federated States of Micronesia

Did you know?

The name "Truk" is a German corruption: the colonial administrators could not manage to pronounce "Chuuk". Cousteau brought the site to the world's attention with a 1969 documentary. Eighty-two years after Hailstone, 35 US servicemen from the February 1944 attacks are still missing, and in 2024 the Project Recover team located three US aircraft in the lagoon for the first time. It is a war grave: you dive it with that in mind.

Sources consulted: DAN Alert Diver; military.com (Operation Hailstone); thedirtydozenexpeditions.com; SCUBA Travel; thetechnicaldiver.com

Location

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