Lagoon of the dead ships

In Micronesia there is a group of islands that are now called the Chuuk Islands, but before they had a completely different name - they are known as Truk stories.

They were first discovered by Spanish navigators, but at the end of the Spanish-American war in 1898, an agreement was signed between the USA, Spain and Germany, according to which all Micronesia, except the island of Guam, is sold to Germany for more than four million dollars. And with the outbreak of World War I, the islands were completely occupied by the Japanese.

Japan organized on Truk a large military base, the harbor of which numbered over a thousand ships, military and commercial. Also, there were five airfields that can accommodate up to five hundred aircraft. All this, coupled with military boats, submarines and naval mine trawls, provided the islands with excellent protection.

At that time, Truk was Japan's most formidable Pacific stronghold. However, such a reputation led the base command to excessive self-confidence and relaxation. As a result, US torpedo submarines were able to almost completely cut off the supply of fuel, products and weapons to the Japanese base.

By 1944, America had managed to assemble an entire armada of military naval and submarine ships and make a decisive strike on the islands occupied by Japan. Later, in April 44th, the Japanese tried to send about a hundred of the planes remaining in Rabaul to Truk, but they were attacked by American aircraft carriers, and most of them were destroyed. Truk fell, and over 70 ships and about 400 aircraft were flooded or destroyed.

After 20 years, a team of adventure lovers Jacques-Yves Cousteau during scuba diving discovered a delightful lagoon, whose beauty is interwoven with a fair amount of sunken military equipment, corals and a diverse world of marine life.

These islands with their picturesque shallow lagoons can be called a real find for divers, one of the best and most interesting places for diving. In addition to exploring a string of sunken ships, you can take a walk along Truk itself, see Japanese lighthouses from which unmatched views, old runways, command posts and hospitals of the former base open, and also visit a network of caves.