Truk Lagoon on Thorfinn

by South China Dive Club

It's been a number of years since SCDC has visited Truk in force, although there has been the occasional individual visit. This has largely been due to Continental Airlines' scheduling, which made it possible to get from Hong Kong to Truk, but only if you were prepared to pay a fortune and spend a week doing it. Getting back was worse. Well last year they changed their schedules to make life easier for Hong Kong-based wrecks (surely you mean Hong Kong-based wreck divers? Then again, perhaps you're right. Ed.). Trevor and Steve moved into gear and put together a crack team of experienced divers to take advantage of this. When they realised they could get a discount if they had 12 people, Louisa and I were invited as well!

From SCDC there was Steve, Etsuko, Trevor, Robert (a late replacement for Les who was legless), Neil and Louisa. From elsewhere in Hong Kong's diving community was Dave Sharpe, Chas and Linda Doyle, Bo Fussing and Park Ng. Finally a frequent visitor to Hong Kong on his quarterly migration route between the UK and Manila and Bangkok was Ian Green. Ian's the guy who has almost as many holidays (3 in 2001) as Steve (3 in April).

Rather than go to Truk with a whole bunch of diving gear that I hadn't dived with for ages, I did a warm-up dive in Hong Kong. As a result I ended up going to Truk with a whole bunch of diving gear that I'd never dived with, when it turned out that half of it needed replacing. That included a computer that thought I was at 1000 metres above sea level.

In my experience SCDC dive trips tend to be a series of setbacks and problems punctuated by some good diving. The first setback came before we'd even got on the plane, as Louisa's ticket was issued in the wrong name. Chas was able to sort that out, which meant I was unable to go on my own. The second setback appeared to have happened when we arrived at Guam at 04:30. As in every SCDC trip I've been on, transport had been arranged. And as in every SCDC trip I've been on, it wasn't there. Several people jumped in a cab, which did the trick, as 5 minutes later a van from Professional Sports Divers arrived and asked if we were the Australian party. Not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, we pushed Trevor to the front and he confirmed that we were. We got to Santa Fe on the Bay at 5 am and most people went to bed in preparation for the 11am dive. Unfortunately I spent the next hour and a half re-packing everything so that my dive gear was in 1 bag instead of 5.

Professional Sports Divers is run by Simon Pridmore who used to be with the police in Hong Kong. He arrived at 11am to pick up 11 bleary-eyed potential divers. Repeated attempts to raise the dead were unsuccessful and Robert stayed in bed. We picked up some Nitrox cylinders at Simon's shop and were driven to the pier and loaded onto a boat for the 10 minute trip to the mouth of the harbour. We were warned to expect poor visibility as a US aircraft carrier had turned around over our dive site about an hour earlier. We were going to dive on the Cormoran and the Tokai Maru.

The Cormoran was a German ship that had parked in Guam during the First World War. After several years of fairly relaxed internment, the German crew realized that Uncle Sam was gingerly climbing down off the fence, and was planning to join the winning side and claim all the credit. Rather than let the Cormoran fall into American hands, they scuttled the ship. 35 years later and this time Uncle Sam was unceremoniously pushed off the fence by the Japanese. They went on to take Guam, where the Tokai Maru was subsequently anchored. An American submarine found it and torpedoed it. On its way to the bottom it hit the Cormoran and came to rest about 8 feet away. In 1993 an earthquake pushed the 2 ships together, so now their hulls touch, a rather bizarre legacy of 2 world wars, and a unique dive site. Visibility was apparently poor, but not by our rather sad standards. We dropped down onto the Tokai Maru and saw where the 2 hulls touched. We then swam along the much smaller Cormoran before crossing back to finish on the Tokai. There wasn't much coral, but quite a lot of fish life.

Our second dive concentrated more on the Tokai Maru. It was a good start to the trip.

Dinner that night was at the Lone Star and even Robert woke up long enough to eat. The Lone Star is a steak restaurant that specialized in massive quantities of red meat. The only vegetarians in there are on the menu. The beer was fairly substantial too. Fortunately they laid on a van to get us back to the hotel, because none of us were capable of walking. The excess weight was too much for our puny legs.

Sunday dawned bright and early, but fortunately I missed that by about 5 hours. After we'd checked out, the plan was for several of us to go to a shopping mall. The girls were going shopping, while we considerately waited for them in a bar. Like any good plan, this one fell apart almost immediately when half of the group headed off, and the other half had to wait patiently for an hour while Ian got on the phone to sort out his sleeping arrangements for the post-Truk part of his trip, the Manila and Bangkok legs. We finally caught up with the others at Planet Hollywood. After a small beer we headed to the airport on the way to Truk, so we thought. Once there we were treated to a comedy double act by Steve and Etsuko, who had managed to lose their tickets and passports. After that came the bad news. 8 of us were on the flight, but Steve, Louisa, Chas and Linda were not. This must have been particularly galling for Chas who had been to a dinner with Continental Airlines' chairman some weeks before. We had a long discussion at the front desk where Steve quite legitimately pointed out that our seats had been confirmed months in advance. In response Continental Airlines adopted a bizarre customer service ploy, and threatened to arrest him and Etsuko. At that point we went through to try our luck at the gate. The problem was that it had been raining in Truk, and as any pilot can tell you, if it's raining, you have to throw a few of the passengers off to make room for the crew umbrellas. Everyone boarded except for the 4 unfortunates, along with Etsuko, and I. Oh and Dave Sharpe - who had considerately waited behind to laugh at us. Anyway at the last minute they got approval to load some extra passengers despite the rain, and we all rushed on board.

When we got to Truk we found out how they'd managed to squeeze on the extra passengers despite the restriction on aircraft weight. They'd taken off 78 dive bags. This was a little excessive, as they only really needed to throw Dave's off. Continental Airlines offer a very generous luggage allowance of up to 2 bags of 32 kg, i.e. 64 kg.Despite this, Dave had single handedly used up all the excess for all 12 of us. Repeatedly reminding him of this guaranteed that I wouldn't be borrowing anything from him during the rest of the trip. (His foresight was somewhat justified when his primary and backup computers both started acting up. Fortunately he was able to switch to his alternate backup computer). Needless to say the 78 bags included all of ours, except Robert's. It was a shrewd tactical move by the Guam staff, who'd elegantly shifted the problem somewhere else. We filled forms in at Truk airport until the early hours. This seems to be a regular thing, and the airline is in a monopoly position, which is how they can get away with it. Continental's chairman has recently written a book about turning the airline around called "From worst to first". I think it might be time for the sequel - "And back again".

We turned up at the Thorfinn and met Captain Lance Higgs, who filled us in on the history of Truk and the Thorfinn. Truk was originally run by Germany, but the Japanese were given it for siding against Germany in the First World War. They turned it into a major naval base as it is a huge lagoon surrounded by a fringing reef. In 1944 they had a large fleet of merchant ships there when the US decided to attack it. Over the course of 2 attacks from aircraft carriers they sank over 40 ships. (If the US navy had adopted the same methods as Continental Airlines only half the planes would have arrived, and they wouldn't have had any bombs on board). Lance also went over their diving rules, which include some fairly heavy stops to reduce the risk of DCS. 2 minutes at 18 metres, 3 minutes at 9 metres, and 10 minutes at 6 metres as a minimum, even on no stop dives. With up to 5 dives a day, and the nearest chamber 600 miles away in Guam, these precautions are sensible. Diving is done from 4 tenders which means that there are only a few other divers on each of the wrecks at any time.

The following day and we got some good news. There are not many flights a week to Truk, but fortunately there was another one in the morning, and better still, our luggage was on it. As a result we missed a couple of dives, but it could have been worse.

First dive was a 40m dive on to I 169 a Japanese sub that sank because of a mistake by the crew. The rear of the sub is intact, but the front is badly damaged as the Japanese depth charged it after bringing out the bodies of the sailors who died. As Trevor repeatedly pointed out, this is not one of the best dives in Truk, but gives the dive guides the chance to assess people without too much risk, as even Steve couldn't get inside.

Louisa and I were diving with the only 2 people on the Thorfinn not with our party. 2 Americans, Don and Bob, from the frozen wastes of Wisconsin had joined us. They'd spent a week thawing out in Palau, and were now doing a week in Truk. (Don very kindly donated some of the accompanying photos, and you can see more of his excellent photos from both Truk Don Dixon's Truk and Palau Photo Gallery.

The next dive was on one of Truk's showcase dives, the Fujikawa Maru. The wreck is upright in 35 metres, with the mast coming up almost to the surface. We swam through the engine room, and saw a workshop and some other rooms before popping out in one of the forward holds. Here are parts of 3 aircraft, including the cockpit and fuselage of a Zero. There are also several torpedoes and a whole host of shoes. There was a lot of coral and loads of fish.

Next the night dive - yes some of us did one. Even Robert postponed his after-dinner nap. This was on another upright wreck, the Sankisan Maru, the ammunition wreck. It was a bit crowded, but we saw a giant puffer fish while swimming through the holds. There were several truck chassis in the holds and on the decks, and tons of ammunition in the first hold. We didn't get to the stern, but we wouldn't have seen much if we had. A large bomb landed in the aft holds and set off the ordinance stored in them. It was a good dive marred only by the fact that I flooded Steve's torch. It was probably due for an upgrade anyway as it was the same colour as his old car.

The first dive on Tuesday was on the Amagisan Maru which was in deeper water. Consequently the water was remarkably clear. The ship is on its side and has a staff car in one of the holds. There was an anti-aircraft gun on its turntable. It was good, but the stops were longer than the dive.
Robert missed this one, and complained that his buddy should have woken him up for it. That seemed a bit harsh, since waking him up is practically impossible.

Our next dive was on the Rio de Janeiro Maru. This was a huge passenger liner which used to take Japanese farmers to Brazil, where the Government was giving away land, to try and settle more of the country. It is on its starboard side, and we dropped down to it in bright sunlight. The rear hold was full of sake bottles in crates. The 2 propellers and rudder were impressive, as was the rear gun that was bolted on when the Japanese Navy took over the ship. There were lots of fish, and it was another excellent dive, helped by the sunlight on the wreck.

Next was the Gosei Maru, which was again on its side. There was not much doubt about why this sank, a massive hole where the hull should have been. There were a number of torpedoes which had 'exploded' when their compressed air burst them open. The engine room was easily accessible. We did the stops on the hull near the stern accompanied by a huge shoal of sweetlips.

When I first heard about the Thorfinn, I thought that the hot tub was an unnecessary luxury. After getting back from several of the dives a bit chilly from the wind in the small boats, it rapidly became essential. Every dive boat should have one. Oh and the waitresses bringing food and beer to you while you soak would be a welcome addition to Hung's junk as well. This was particularly valuable after the last dive of the day. We started doing a sort of dusk dive, by postponing the 5 pm dive until around 6pm. This provided the benefits of a night dive without requiring the superhuman willpower needed to turn down a beer in the hot tub. This popular innovation was started by Chas, Linda, Bo and Park in the starboard boat. I've always said I'd do a lot more night dives if they could be done earlier in the day. But the only chance of that happening is if we do a trip to the Arctic Circle in winter. That's a bit unlikely since Louisa consider 25 degrees Centigrade an arctic temperature.

On Wednesday we did the Sankisan Maru in daylight, and it was spectacular. This time I did head out over the stern, or rather the hole in the seabed where it had been. Eventually I came upon a lump of ship, but it was a long way from the rest of the wreck, and not very recognizable. The forward hold was full of small arms ammunition and detonators. Number 2 hold was full of trucks. The sides had rusted away, but the wheels still had tyres on (and they're probably in better shape than those Firestone ones that Ford keeps putting on its Explorers). Steering wheels, engines, radiators are all still recognizable. There are some cowlings for Zero fighters in there too. It's a very pretty wreck with lots of coral and fish life.

The Yamagiri Maru is on its port side, and it has a number of huge 18 inch shells in its rear hold. These were for the 2 Japanese battleships, Yamato and Musashi, which had the biggest armament ever put on a ship. We went inside past the engine room and came across a skull and some bones in what was probably the crew area.

The Emily Flying Boat is in 3 pieces. The back of the fuselage is broken off about 3 metres from the wings. The control panels have still got instruments in them. One of the cockpit windows is still intact. It's a lot smaller dive site than the ships, but was interesting nevertheless.

We did the Aikoku Maru in the morning. It's a deep dive, partly because of the hole that it blew in the seabed when it exploded. Like the Sankisan Maru, a bomb landed in a hold full of 1000 lb bombs. This time it was one of the forward holds. The largest part of the front of the ship that has been found was about 18 inches long. The rest was vaporized. The superstructure absorbed the blast and sank first, with the stern sticking up. It hit the bottom at high speed, and then settled upright. The front of the superstructure looks like someone has taken a giant meat cleaver to it, bending down the steel as if it was (Space reserved for a witty metaphor). The stern section is remarkably intact considering. The rear holds were full of Japanese marines, all of whom were killed. There is a memorial to those who died at Truk on the superstructure. It is a spooky, dark, atmospheric wreck. I'm glad we did it, but I would hesitate to say I enjoyed it. The stern has a large gun on, pointing upwards. It was firing up until the ship sank. We saw a shark and a large school of barracuda, but there was less coral because of the depth, we stayed around the top, but were still at 52 metres. Several partially successful attempts to restore Steve's torch to a useable state came to an end on this dive, after it flooded catastrophically.

We really appreciated the way the Thorfinn organizes their diving after the Heian Maru. We arrived to find the Truk Aggressor already there. We should have gone somewhere else, but the Heian Maru is the biggest thing in Truk, so how crowded could it get? Very! Every time we tried to come out of a hold, about 10 people would be pushing their way in. The hold entrances were quite narrow, and the ship is on its port side, so the holds were actually quite dark. There was a skull in one of the holds, which attracted the entire Aggressor group who wanted to pose for photographs with it. The Heian Maru was a submarine tender, and there are several periscopes stored along one of the companionways. Linda mistook these for the longest telescopes she'd ever seen. In a hole on the hull we came across a massive octopus.

Dusk dive was on the Sutsuki, a patrol boat. It was quite small and cramped inside. There were a lot of recognizable gauges in the engine room, and we came across a bunk in the crew's quarters. Outside again and we finished the dive as a night dive.

The highlight of the trip for me was the San Francisco Maru. It's another deep dive, as the decks are at 50 metres, but it's remarkably intact. The bomb that sank it landed in the only empty hold, otherwise it may have ended up as badly damaged as the Aikoku. Steve's group covered the rear of the ship, where one hold apparently has more rifle ammunition than the "ammunition wreck", the Sankisan Maru. The other hold is full of 1000 lb bombs. I spent both my dives at the front. There are 3 tanks on the deck, 1 on the port side, and 2 on the starboard side in a compromising position, with one on top of the other. The number 2 hold is full of trucks including several fuel tankers. There were also front wheels from aircraft landing gear. The bridge telegraph has fallen from the bridge onto the deck just behind the second hold. The first hold is full of anti-ship mines. They are stacked up the entire height of the hold. There is apparently a steam roller on the seabed off the port side, but our bottom time was pretty limited, so we concentrated on the main parts of the ship. The following day's dive here was made more interesting when the tender's anchor chain broke and we had to do the stops in blue water. Fortunately there is no current in the lagoon so that did not present a serious problem. It also threw Linda's eyesight or memory (?) into question. She remembered the bow gun, but that was about it. "Did you see the tanks / trucks / mines" all drew a rather blank response. Still she had missed her breakfast, so was perhaps not at her best.

I did the Hoyo Maru at dusk. It's an oil tanker, like the better known Shinkoku Maru. The engine room is at the back, and that was where the ship was hit. Apparently it's about the only place a torpedo could sink these ships. Both this and the Shinkoku were hit in the same place. Anyway it's upside down, but we had a good root around the engine room area. A massive space, with tangles of pipes all over. Park found a Spanish Dancer, some swimming shrimps. There were also some tiny porcelain crabs on the coral.

My final dive of the trip was on the Shinkoku Maru with Ian, Trevor and Robert. This is one of Truk's best known wrecks, partly because it features on a T-Shirt. It is upright, covered in coral and fish and an excellent dive. Trevor spent the dive photographing Ian, so Ian could explain what he'd been doing for 3 weeks in Asia.

That evening the crew cooked a barbecue on the deck, and we did our best to empty the fridge of beer. We left the Thorfinn at lunchtime on the Sunday and had the chance to do a tour of Truk. This was not what I would call value for money. We got to see the old Japanese communications headquarters, which is now a school. Apparently there are 2 craters on the roof from where 2 500lb bombs were dropped on it. Ian could perhaps have picked up some tips on how to build a real roof, but unfortunately we couldn't get up there to see them. We also got to see an old gun in a cave. This was part of the defences the Japanese had installed. I would not have liked to be in the cave if the gun had ever been fired, as it looked as though the roof would have come down.

Our flight out was in the middle of the night again. I think Continental Airline pilots are only trained to fly in the dark. Or perhaps they've got a job lot of headlight bulbs that they're trying to use up. Anyway after dinner and a few beers at the Truk Stop hotel, it was off to the airport. We needed 2 trips, one for Dave's luggage, and one for everything else. After the traditional struggle with Continental Airlines we finally boarded the plane, pausing only briefly to confirm that we didn't have any shipwrecks concealed among our luggage. We arrived at Guam at around 5 am, and managed to find transport to the Santa Fe on the Bay quite quickly. Once we arrived, checking into our rooms took rather longer. Presumably in an attempt to save time they gave Louisa and I a room that was already occupied. Fortunately the previous occupants had put the safety chain on the door, but they didn't sound very happy to have 2 people trying to force their way in at half past five in the morning. We got up in time for lunch at the Lone Star. The 18 ounce Cajun Rib eye was the most popular choice on the menu. Oh and we had to have another one of those beers. One was enough.

All in all it was a great trip despite Continental Airlines. We did have a number of equipment failures, mainly torches and computers, but fortunately we had plenty of backups between us. The only other problem that marred the trip was that Louisa missed the last day's diving. She'd had a rash on her arms and legs for most of the week. After she came up from one dive with a headache, we belatedly wondered if it might be a mild form of DCS. Fortunately Don is a doctor, and he put her on oxygen for a while as a precaution. Later I had to stop taking the mickey out of Dave Sharpe so I could borrow his satellite phone to ring DAN. They pointed out that if Louisa had had the rash all week and hadn't keeled over then it was not diving related. They also pointed out that "trial by survival" was not the appropriate way of diagnosing DCS. The most likely explanation was stress-related - all that enjoying yourself is hard work.

South China Dive Club

Don Dixon - Photographs

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