Mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon Wreck Diving

By FizX on May 6, 2012@fizx

Truk Lagoon, known as Chuuk – a group of tropical paradise islands in the Federal States of Micronesia – offers adrenaline-junky scuba divers a cool yet creepy underwater adventure in shark-infested Pacific waters while wreck diving the mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon.

More than 50 major shipwrecks from WWII litter the seabed, making the undersea wonder of the world the best shipwreck diving destination on the globe. In 1944, Americans launched Operation Hailstone, which has been called the Japanese Pearl Harbor, and the bombardment lasted for three days. The attack wiped out 60 ships and 275 airplanes, sinking them to the bottom of the lagoon, so that now it is the biggest ship graveyard in the world. Most of the wrecks were left untouched for nearly 25 years since people feared setting off the thousands of sunken bombs.

Many of the shipwrecks in the scuba diving paradise have full cargo holds full of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, thousands of various weapons, human remains, and other artifacts. More than 3,000 people were thought to have been killed and some divers swear that the wrecks in Truk Lagoon are haunted.

Destination Truth conducted an underwater ghost hunting expedition in Truk Lagoon. While diving at the Hoki Maru, the divers recorded sounds of running engines in the cargo hold full of trucks. Here’s a virtual adventure with wreck divers who explored and photographed the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. This is underwater awesomeness! We love these pics!

Diver gh0stdot captured amazing underwater images in the ghostly wreckage.

This is a light tank on the deck of the San Francisco Maru at about 50m depth in Truk Lagoon. Photo #1 by © gh0stdot

Let’s back up and show you where you are with an aerial shot taken while flying over Chuuk in south western part of the Pacific Ocean. Chuuk is the new name for an island group which formerly were known separately as Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus. Chuuk is part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Photo #2 by Matt Kieffer

This photo is of Truk Blue Lagoon Resort. The beautifully clear blue Pacific water beckons to the curious to visit the underwater museum, whispering to wreck divers to descend to one many wrecks littering the seabed which makes this a wreck diver’s paradise. Photo #3 by Matt Kieffer

Now we’ll go dive into the shark-infested waters and go wreck diving, courtesy of gh0stdot. This is a panorama of the Yamagiri Maru. Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. The diver appears tiny next to the shipwreck. Photo #4 by © gh0stdot

This is inside the Yamigiri Maru – maximum depth 32m. These amazing views are something most people will never see in real life. Photo #5 by © gh0stdot

More exploring inside the Yamigiri Maru – max depth 32m – Truk, Micronesia. Photo #6 by © gh0stdot

The Kawanishi Emily flying boat. Photo #7 by © gh0stdot

The Betty Mitsubishi Attack bomber in Truk lagoon at 20m deep. Photo #8 by © gh0stdot

Meanwhile during scuba diving in Truk Lagoon, wreck divers must always be alert for other dangers besides those inside shipwrecks and downed planes. According to verethragma, the photographer, this is “Sharka Kahn: A grey reef shark. One of very many in the water at the time. And they were NOT fed to attract them…” Photo #9 by © verethragma

A truck in a hold of the San Francisco Maru at 50m depth in Truk Lagoon. We think the ghostly remains are eerily cool, yet creepy, but the photographer gh0stdot noted, “It was a tad dark in there, though, so it is hellish grainy. I do not usually take photos so deep, so I am pleased to have got anything at all in my fuzzy mental state. Nitrogen narcosis is quite strong breathing air at that depth.” Photo #10 by © gh0stdot

Matt Kieffe captured this shot of corals on the mast of the Sankisan Maru. Besides the massive graveyard of WWII shipwrecks, Truk Lagoon offers divers a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes of hard and soft corals. There are also diverse and eye-catching marine life in the shark-infested waters. Photo #11 by Matt Kieffer

The San Francisco Maru in Truk Lagoon. 65m to the seabed. Photo #12 by © gh0stdot

h0stdot wrote, “Suspiciously placed gasmasks in the hold of the Nippo Maru at about 40m.” Photo #13 by © gh0stdot

Skull of a Japanese sailor inside one of the wrecks of Truk Lagoon from Fujikawa Maru. Josh Gates of Destination Truth took his recorded underwater ghostly noises to Jay and Grant of Ghost Hunters . . . adding weight for some to the claim that the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon is haunted. Photo #14 by Apiquet

Now for the skeptics: “Tractor & Ghost in Hokai Maru, Truk Lagoon.” Photographer Don Barnett noted, “The ghostly fluid is probably aviation gas that still leaks from hundreds of barrels on the freighter where this was taken.” Photo #15 by © Don Barnett

The bridge of the Nippo Maru. Photo #16 by © gh0stdot

The bow of the Unkai Maru in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Photo #17 by © gh0stdot

Light tanks on the deck of the San Francisco Maru at a depth of about 46m. With these amazing photos, it’s not hard to see why this area is known as the best shipwreck diving destination in the world. Photo #18 by © gh0stdot

There are all kinds of beauty waiting on divers at the undersea wonder of the world Truk Lagoon. Anemone Fish on the deck of the Yamagiri Maru. Photo #19 by Matt Kieffer

Watch out for rusted wrecked metal and wicked fins while scuba diving and exploring the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. Photo #20 by © verethragma

“Heaven peeps through the blanket of the dark.” Swimming up the funnel of the Unkai Maru. Photo #21 by © gh0stdot

Photographer Matt Kieffer noted that this was from the “Kiyuzumi Maru – resting almost evenly on her port side about 600 yards from Fefan Island.” Fefan Island is the third largest inhabited island within the Truk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia. Photo #22 by Matt Kieffer

Commemorative plaque on the deck of the Fujikawa Maru. Photo #23 by Apiquet

Anemone seen during an underwater exploration adventure among Truk Lagoon’s famously well-preserved shipwrecks. Photo #28 by Angell Williams

Corals along the mast of the Sankisan Maru. Photo #29 by Matt Kieffer

Heian Maru. Photo #31 by Matt Kieffer

Sunset on Chuuk. We hoped you enjoyed this surreal virtual wreck diving adventure at Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. A special thank you to the amazing photographers who allowed us to show off their photos. Photo #33 by Matt Kieffer