San Francisco Maru
Passenger-cargo ship (5,831 t) sunk on 18 Feb 1944 by carrier aircraft in the Fourth Fleet anchorage between Eten and Dublon; five crew died. A classic but deep technical dive known as the 'Million Dollar Wreck': three Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks sit on the foredeck at roughly 46–55 m, the holds hold sea mines, bombs, shells and trucks, and the bridge is intact. The deck is at about 52 m and the seabed at 60 m or more.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Fourth Fleet anchorage (east of Dublon)
- Depth: 45–64 m
- Level: advanced
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.366897, 151.911147
- Highlights: tanks, trucks, sea mines, aerial bombs, torpedoes, 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-diving site (trimix/deco): Master Liveaboards recommends Deep Diver (40 m) for recreational divers and PADI Tec 50 or equivalent for technical divers on its Truk trips. Many sea mines have been removed by locals – do not touch any ordnance. Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.