This one lies about a quarter-mile off the north side of Kwajalein island. This lies next to the wreck of the
Shoei Maru, a medium-size cargo vessel (3,000 to 5,000 ton range). The ship was attacked on 19 Dec. 1943, when it was the target of a U.S.Navy PBY that performed a glide-bombing attack on it at about midnight. The ship was left burning, and according to captured documents, the
Shoei Maru sank a few hours later between 0200 and 0230. The entire wreck looks like it was on fire for some time before sinking.
The ship came to rest upside down, with the stern section separated and lying about 30 feet away due to a bomb hit. The seabed around the wreck is littered with mines, torpedoes, aircraft bombs, and artillery shells.
This wreck is deep- 130 feet, which is right at the very limit for recreational diving on tank air, so I didn't have a lot of time to explore the area- my bottom time was limited to six minutes. This one will take several dives to explore the area around it. But, the main attraction (for me) was an aircraft lying next to the wreck. Several divers had described it to me, and it sounded like it was a F1M2 'Pete'. Sure enough, it is!
The state of the wreck leads me to believe that the 'Pete' was being hauled as cargo. That's because the wing outer sections are gone, and aren't lying anywhere nearby in plain view. Plus, the horizontal stabs and rudder are gone. Finally, there's no windscreen/canopy framework on the fuselage. The control stick in the cockpit, as well as the flap on the right side inboard section of the lower wing, still move freely even after all these years down there.
I got some pics, but not as many as I wanted. As I mentioned, the limiting factor is bottom time at that depth. So, I'll make a couple more dives on the 'Pete' wreck as soon as I can, and then post some more pics. For now, here's a sample of dive shots from my one dive on the wreck so far.
Cheers all!
Dan, from Kwajalein