Yamagiri Maru
Passenger-cargo ship (6,439 t, 1938) converted to a military transport, hit by dive bombers from Yorktown and Bunker Hill on 17 Feb 1944 and sunk north of Fefan with heavy casualties. Hold 5 contains large armour-piercing shells for the fleet's battleships (14-inch according to Pacific Wrecks; often reported as 18-inch); the engine room is an easy penetration. An operator reports a skeleton visible in a storeroom, so human remains may still be present.
Facts
- Region: Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon – Micronesia
- Area: Dublon, Eten & Fefan channel
- Depth: 15–34 m
- Level: intermediate
- Current: low
- Type: wreck
- Coordinates: 7.390277, 151.820277
- Highlights: 14-inch shells, battleship shells, engine room, soft coral
- 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: Shells are unstable – never touch. Human remains reported in one storeroom: look, do not disturb. Wrecks are war graves – look, photograph, take nothing. Some cargo (shells, mines, bombs) is unstable: do not touch it.