Chuuk Lagoon · Micronesia · Wreck
Aikoku Maru
A memorial monument on the deck of a deep, upright cruiser
Photo: montereydiver · CC BY 2.0
Aikoku Maru is a 150 m armed merchant cruiser that sits upright on the floor of Chuuk Lagoon in about 64 m of water. Even its bridge lies at 40 m, making it one of the lagoon's deep wrecks, dived for its wrecked bow, its stern gun and the memorial placed on its deck.
Where it is and how deep
7.3670° N, 151.9330° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The ship stands upright, with its bridge at the 40 m (130 ft) level and the deck roughly 10 m (33 ft) deeper. Dives on it run between 30 and 61 m (100 and 200 ft), and the bow is a scene of massive destruction.
On the deck at about 38 m (125 ft) stands a memorial monument, placed there in 1994. Further aft are the photogenic stern gun, an anti-aircraft gun and the galley.
The wreck
- Vessel
- Aikoku Maru
- Type
- Armed merchant cruiser
- Length
- 150 m (492 ft)
- Built
- 1940
- Sunk
- 1944
- Cause
- Bombed by US Navy Task Force 58 aircraft during Operation Hailstone
- Lies
- Upright, bridge at 40 m, seabed at about 64 m
Aikoku Maru was launched on 25 April 1940 and served the Imperial Japanese Navy as an armed merchant cruiser. She was at Truk when Operation Hailstone began, with Task Force 58 striking the anchorage hour after hour for two days, and she sank in the attack. Jacques-Yves Cousteau first dived the wreck in 1969, though it was only identified later, and a memorial monument was set on her deck in 1994.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Chuuk Lagoon: December to April is the dry season, driest from January to March; June to September brings the heaviest rain.
Photos from Aikoku Maru
Motoki Kurabayashi · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Diving the wreck of AIKOKU MARU - Truk Lagoon · Rod Macdonald on YouTube
Questions divers ask
What training does Aikoku Maru need?+
Technical training. Even the bridge is at 40 m, the deck lies deeper and dives run to about 61 m, past recreational limits, with the seabed at 64 m.
Sources
- Aikoku Maru — Dive3D.eu
- Aikoku Maru — Wikipedia
- Commonly Visited Truk Dive Sites — Truk Odyssey
- Wrecks — Truk Stop Hotel
Photo credits
- A coral-crusted deck gun on a wreck deck angles up into blue water, with an orange sea fan in front and small fish around it. by montereydiver, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A diver with a torch hangs inside a dim blue wreck structure, framed by beams and openings. by Motoki Kurabayashi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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