Fujisan Maru
Big oil tanker (9,524 t, 1931) that tried to escape at the start of Hailstone and was sunk by a near-miss bomb off the south-east side of Weno on 18 Feb 1944. She lies near-upright at about 64 m with the bridge intact (telegraph at Full Ahead) and a 24-inch tailshaft pulled out of the engine room; a diesel funnel stands on the aft house. Found in 1976 by two airline pilots who spotted her oil slick.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Western lagoon & Weno
- Depth: 64 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.405282, 151.890965
- Highlights: tailshaft, intact bridge, engine telegraph, funnel, deep wreck
- Permit: A Chuuk State dive permit is required for every dive on the wartime wrecks (Chuuk Lagoon State Monument): US$50, valid one year, as listed by Odyssey Adventures, SS Thorfinn and the Blue Lagoon Dive Shop rate sheet (the older state-code text says US$30, so confirm when booking). Under the state code the permit is sold by the licensed dive shops/operators, who collect the fee for the state, and divers must go with a certified guide from a licensed shop. All Japanese ships and aircraft sunk before 31 Dec 1945 are protected monuments and war graves: taking or damaging anything is illegal (fine up to US$1,000 and/or six months in prison under the state code).
- Issuer / contact: Chuuk Visitors Bureau (CVB)
- Phone: +691 330-4133
- Email: executivedirector@visitchuuk.com
- Website: https://visitchuuk.com/contact-information
- CVB is the Chuuk State tourism office and is listed here as the official contact for visitor information; the permit itself is sold by the licensed dive operators (Chuuk State code Title 25 ch. 8, text at https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/mic79052.pdf). Operators (Thorfinn, Odyssey, Blue Lagoon) list US$50.
- Tips: Technical dive at about 64 m. Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.