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This program is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It contains mature adult themes. Listener discretion is advised. A young man, 17 years old, stands on the beach of his tropical island homeland, his toes swaddled in perfectly soft sand. It's a pleasantly mild early morning, and the breeze is gentle. The boy stares transfixed into the distance.
He watches as a faraway mushroom cloud, erupting from a battleship, billows miles into the sky. His ears are still ringing from the explosion. Over his temporary deafness, he can still hear the cacophony of almost a hundred fighter planes darting overhead. Dozens of pairs of dogfights whiz around the air like circling butterflies.
hit aircraft fall out of the sky in blazes of fire. The ship in the distance continues to burn. He can hear deep, eerie, metallic creaks emerging from it as it begins to collapse in on itself. In only a minute, the over 10,000-ton vessel is engulfed by the water. It solemnly sinks deeper and deeper into the ocean, where it will remain indefinitely.
And it won't be the last. In 1944, during the height of the Second World War, the might of America's armed forces was unleashed on a Japanese naval stronghold in the Pacific Ocean. The result of this devastating bombardment can still be seen to this day, as laying hidden beneath the waves are over 100 wrecks lining the ocean floor.
The fascinating story of how these ships came to rest at the bottom of this lagoon is one of revenge, nuclear secrets and immense human suffering. They just wanted to wipe it out. This is a payback to Pearl Harbor. If they didn't cooperate, they could be beheaded. If you dive today, you can still see three Mitsubishi Type 95 Hargo tanks. They're right there.
In this episode, we're talking to experts, local historians, and on-the-ground investigators to tell the story of these wrecks and how they came to be.
You're listening to Forbidden History, the podcast series that explores the past's darkest corners, sheds light on the lives of intriguing individuals, and uncovers the truth buried deep in history's most controversial legacies. This is the Japanese Ghost Fleet of Chuuk Lagoon.
Over 2,000 kilometers from the nearest continental landmass, in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean, stands the Federated States of Micronesia, a country comprised of four island states: Khosrae, Phonpei, Yap, and Chuuk. One of these states contains the atoll of Chuuk. The atoll is comprised of a series of islands surrounded by a naturally occurring ring.
Forty miles in diameter, it's created by an ever-growing solid coral reef. On a boat in the middle of this atoll is Professor Bill Jeffrey of the University of Guam and his good friend and professional diver Jim Pinson. Despite being surrounded by stunning beaches and crystal clear waters, they're on a hunt for something unknown hidden beneath the waves.
You got a bet going on there. So I'm thinking it's a working boat, and you think it's a landing craft. No, I said working boat first, but whatever it is. You're rewriting history. I mean, it's really nice to find out what it could be. Yeah, you really want to know what it really is. This is because the atoll of Chuk is home to one of the most incredible underwater graveyards in the world, and Bill has been exploring it for decades.
Bill once took part in an expedition to research and record all of the known wrecks in this lagoon, but with surprising results.
So back in 2002 when I was based here, we were surveying and trying to locate the exact position and do some mapping of these sites. We just came across this feature which was definitely not natural. It stood out from the bottom and it's just not where we were expecting any other ship. Now, Bill has returned to uncover the truth behind this mystery wreck and what it can teach us about the underwater Ghost Fleet.
But how, in this idyllic tropical part of the world, did all these ships end up at the bottom of the ocean in the first place? To understand that, we have to dive into the history of the Choca'tal and how it became a pivotal player in the biggest war the world has ever seen.
The state of Chuuk is home to the indigenous Chuukese, but has been claimed by various nations for the last 500 years, first by Spain in the 16th century, who then sold the state to Germany in 1899. However, crucial to our story, Japan annexed the islands of Micronesia from Germany during World War I, ironically on behalf of the Allied powers, who would soon become their enemies.
Japan then assumed control of the islands and intended to run them in a peaceful manner. To tell us more is Gradfin Asek, a local Chuukese who grew up on these islands listening to the tales of the local elders that lived through the Japanese occupation. The Japanese educated the people of Chuuk and they hired them to work for the Japanese. And the Japanese really helped the local people.
They feed them, they give them what they want, and they pay them.
Professor Bill Jeffrey, having worked in this area for decades, also has a historical insight into this time. Chuuki's people that were there in those early days, they said it wasn't too bad. They had all sorts of facilities there, ice cream parlors, a cinema. So before the war started, some people thought that life wasn't too bad, even though it was under quite stringent Japanese control.
However, as World War II approached, the Japanese soon realized that Chuuk, known then by its former name, Truk, could be of vital strategic military importance. To help illustrate, is
is author and historian Guy Walters. Truk is the absolutely perfect location for a naval base. The Japanese saw it there, slap bang in the middle of the Pacific and realised that's fantastic strategically, but better still, because it's this natural coral atoll, it's the place
perfect anchorage point for a massive fleet. It's got natural protection. Gradvin's father, Kimio, was born under the Japanese rule and witnessed the change from peacetime occupation to the buildup of war. My father was born during the Japanese occupation. He said he liked the Japanese because they treated them well.
One event was about to change the course of the island's history forevermore. On the 7th of December, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii.
People talk about turning points of the Second World War. Believe you me, Pearl Harbor was the turning point. The Japanese attack is absolutely seismic. What this means is that America is now going to join the war. Japan was now up against the might of the Allied military powers. The harmonious existence on the Atoll of Chuuk would now be replaced by volatile preparations for all-out war. Life for the islanders changed.
the Japanese became cruel occupiers. That's the time the life of the island is different. The Japanese bring the Korean and use them for labor, even the Chuukese. That's the time it's very hard for the Chuukese people because the Japanese, they treat them like slaves. They force them to work without getting paid. They have very little food.
And they start working when the sun rises up until sunset time. As a former professor of journalism at the University of Guam and the official biographer of Gradvin's father, Kimio, Diane Strong has an in-depth knowledge of the Chuukese experience around this awful time. If the Chuukese didn't cooperate, they could be beheaded. And they were.
and often right in front of the families. They were always indoctrinating the Chuukese to hear, "Oh no, we will never be beaten, and those Americans are dirty, stupid people. They could never defeat us." The Truk Atoll was to become the primary anchorage point for the enormous Japanese Imperial fleet. In preparation, the Japanese put the Chuukese to work.
building bunkers, trenches, caves, airstrips, and seaplane bases, all bolstered by giant coastal defense guns. It was so well fortified, the Allied powers nicknamed truck the Gibraltar of the Pacific. Most of these fortifications now lay in ruins around the islands, or as wrecks lining the seabed below. With so many wrecks so close together, it's a haven for avid divers.
These mighty vessels are now blanketed in corals and barnacles, cast in eerie muggy sunlight, hundreds of meters below the surface. Serene tropical fish cluster and disperse in the crevices of strikingly recognizable wartime artillery. Tanks, jeeps, and giant guns, they sit atop the decks, frozen in time. Divers and historians, like Bill and Jim, aim to explore and catalog all these wrecks.
in the hopes of detailing the events of what happened on that fateful day. This mysterious new wreck is no different. Yeah, looking forward to it. Looking forward to what you'll see and discover. Yeah, hopefully we see something good. However, if the strategy of attack by the U.S. had taken a different turn, there may have been no wrecks or ruins left behind to explore, or anyone left alive.
This is due to the threat that Truk posed to the Allied powers, and what they were prepared to do to counter it. Truk was a crucial Japanese military base, and the atoll began to play a major part in some of the most significant conflicts within the Pacific theater.
Truk is not only this fantastic anchorage point for the Japanese fleet, but it's also a major place where you can ship supplies and goods in the fight against the Allies. This made it a real concern to the United States. And it wasn't until relatively recently that documents discovered in the US National Archives revealed the true devastation that could have been awaiting the atoll.
During a meeting held on the 5th of May, 1943, members of the Military Policy Committee had convened to discuss a top-secret weapons program. It was known as the Manhattan Project.
And one of the priority topics of conversation was Truk Lagoon. Long before the first atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was actually the atoll of Truk was considered the perfect place to test this new deadly weapon. And actually, if you have a look at this top secret memo here, you can see the Americans talking about how the best
the best point of use would be on a Japanese fleet concentration in the harbor of Truk. So what the Americans wanted to do was to see what effect the atom bomb would have on ships. Fortunately for the Lagoon, the plan to drop an atomic bomb on Truk was never realized. But the U.S. would later carry out a controlled test at another South Pacific island group, Bikini Atoll, giving a glimpse into what could have been Truk's fate.
The US may have changed tactics, but they weren't going to leave Truk alone. Reconnaissance missions brought back images showing just how well fortified the atoll had become. But they also showed something else. It turned out that Truk was harboring a top secret weapon.
Even before the war had started, as far back as 1937, Japan had embarked on an ultra-secret project to create a weapon designed to counter the superior numbers of the American fleet. On a flyover mission to Truk, the US pilots were shocked by what they saw.
Two B-24s from the Airsoft Command came in on reconnaissance and there were destroyers and all kinds of military ships. They did see the Yamato and they couldn't believe they'd ever seen anything that big. It was astonishing. Developed and built in complete secrecy, the Yamato was the heaviest and most powerful armed battleship ever constructed.
Commissioned to be built just one week after Pearl Harbor, it was capable of engaging multiple enemy battleships at the same time, at full load.
She was over 72,000 tons and equipped with the largest guns ever mounted to a battleship. Yamato was not just the heaviest and most powerful ship ever built. She also represents this huge symbol. She represents the Japanese Navy's might, her technological power, her ability to absolutely trounce any opposition. This is a really attractive target for the Americans.
The threat that Truk posed to U.S. operations in the Pacific could no longer go unchallenged. Vice Admiral of the U.S. Navy Mark A. Mitcher was ordered to assemble Task Force 58, the Navy's main striking force, in preparation for an attack on Truk named Operation Hailstone.
You have this unit called Force 58 under the American Admiral Mitchell and he is going to use this to attack Truk. This is a massive operation. But there was a problem. The reconnaissance planes sent by Mitchell to identify the targets on Truk caused the mission to be compromised. They were spotted and all of the military hardware ships were all moved. They all left the lagoon.
Believing an attack by the US was imminent, the Japanese evacuated their main fighting ships from Truk, but they left behind numerous working ships, cargo vessels, and merchant freighters, all of which were about to face the full force of Operation Hailstone.
By February 1944, Task Force 58, comprising of 54 ships including numerous destroyers, aircraft carriers, and cruisers, as well as 10 submarines and over 500 warplanes, were now headed to their target. And on the 17th of February 1944, with all their groups now in position just before daybreak, the order was given to commence the attack.
They all would have had their mission about what to bomb. You know, the 19 islands, and many of the islands have military facilities. They wanted to come here and bomb the truck, whether it was 100 Navy ships or 10 Navy ships. They just wanted to wipe it out. This is a payback to Pearl Harbor. Bullets rained from the sky. Japanese ships were both bombed from the air and torpedoed from under the water.
The most damaging aspect of the attack for the Japanese, however, was the loss of 270 fighter planes, the majority of which had never even left the ground. Over 4,000 men lost their lives, including 120 Chuukese. The attack continued for a further two days, by the end of which the ocean floor of Chuuk Lagoon had become littered by almost 60 vessels.
One of the first ships to be sunk during Operation Hailstone, the Hokie Maru, was only discovered in the 1980s.
Surprisingly, neither the ship nor its cargo turned out to be Japanese. The Hoki Maru was originally called the Hauraki, and in fact, she wasn't originally a Japanese ship. She was actually built by the British and then actually owned by a New Zealand shipping company. And the Japanese captured her when she was sailing from Fremantle to Colombo. So these two raiders, the Haikoku Maru and her sister ship, grabbed the Hoki,
And of course, all of the crewmen were from New Zealand. They were sent to Changi POW camp in Singapore. The vessel was taken to Yokohama, where it underwent modifications and was renamed the Hokimaru.
Half of the previous New Zealand crew members were made to work the engines of the ship by their captors, as it was taken to Japan. But ingeniously, during the trip, they threw overboard all of the ship's spare parts, limiting its use within the Japanese Navy. Just weeks before Operation Hailstone, the Hokie arrived at Truk carrying a cargo of supplies. She was sunk on the first day of the attack, after several bomb and torpedo strikes.
The wreck now lies in 53 meters of water, just east of what is now De Blon Island. Surprisingly, still hidden within its holds, much of its cargo remains intact. It was used by the Japanese Empire for the Fourth Fleet to build roads and airport runways. So it's got all kinds of earth-moving equipment. But it is a beautiful wreck. It's upright and
Sometimes when I dive it, my one thing that I don't want to think about is the one bulldozer that is hanging right above you. I said, "Please, not today! Don't fall on me!" And astonishingly, this ship now lies less than a kilometer away from one of its original captors. And of course, it's right next to the Aikoku Maru. So a little irony there.
Hello, I'm Violet Manners and welcome to Hidden Heritage, the podcast that brings you inside Great Britain's favourite destinations. From the same team that brought you the number one history podcast, Duchess, Hidden Heritage will uncover the fascinating stories behind the UK's brightest, shining hidden gems.
You'll hear from top experts in British heritage, including custodians, historians, artisans, experts, and even the craftsmen and restorers who've worked on some of the most celebrated historic buildings.
We will share the untold and unique stories that celebrate UK heritage. From landmarks, architecture, artefacts to myths and legends, Hidden Heritage will highlight a side to British history you have never seen before. I'm your host, Violet Manners, and founder of HeritageX, and I invite you all to join us on this exciting journey. This is Hidden Heritage. You can find Hidden Heritage wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Since the first wrecks were discovered by renowned underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau in the 1960s, the continued interest in diving in the area prompted Gradvin's father, Kimio, to open up Chuk's very first dive resort in 1973, called the Blue Lagoon. In the years following, numerous new wrecks have been found and identified.
But the sonar image captured by Bill on his last survey suggests that there may be something else waiting to be discovered. We've got a good crew with the Blue Lagoon and Jim, so who's dived in that area before? A very good, competent diver, so I think we'll have a good chance of finding it. But with the anomaly located at 60 to 70 meters below the surface, Jim will be diving at what is considered to be technical depths.
which can lead to nitrogen poisoning and narcosis if he's not careful. I have a concern all the time. Anyone that goes diving, I always worry a little bit. I mean, it's half an hour down the bottom, but another hour and a half coming up, so two hours in the water, and you're wondering what's going on. You know, you can't communicate with him. Always you have a little bit of concern for...
Anything that goes on like that's a little bit more than the average diving. Jim will also have to be especially vigilant. Hunting out these wrecks is a job full of danger. Many of the ships that were sunk in this area often went down carrying an explosive cargo. Speaking to our experts, they discuss one such ship, unrivaled in this regard, called the San Francisco Maru.
The San Francisco Maru is known as the Million Dollar Wreck. And there's a good reason for that, because it was loaded with mines, ammunition, flatbed trucks, you name it, it's there. The San Francisco Maru had managed to survive the first day of the attack by the Americans.
But on day two, she was hit by as many as six 500-pound bombs, sending her to the bottom of the ocean, where her deadly cargo remains to this day. And actually, if you dive today onto the forward deck, you can still see three Mitsubishi Type 95 Hargo tanks. They're right there. To tell us more is marine biologist and diving explorer Michael Barnett.
This is the marquee wreck in the lagoon. It's called the Million Dollar Wreck because it has that or more worth of munitions and supplies on board, including bombs, bullets, beach mines, and all sorts of other highly explosive products on board. It's a miracle this wasn't vaporized during the attack. And terrifyingly, some of this explosive cargo is still live, as explained by experienced local diver Bill Stinnett.
You go to the deck, there's mines on the deck. The locals, when I first came here 42 years ago, they would take mines off that wreck and use it to dynamite fish. There's a tank on the deck as well. It's just, I mean, it's like going back in time.
These wrecks host a multitude of deadly traps, and despite best efforts to keep divers safe, they have claimed an unfortunate few. I've been involved in recovering three dead bodies, divers that died while diving. It's really dangerous to go into these underwater historic items, and you just have to pay attention.
So we're about 200 meters or so now. 200 meters, that's pretty close. Honestly, I do remember that island over there from the last time we were here. So I think we're on the right track. On the way to the mystery wreck, Bill and Jim pass over a stark reminder of the perils of the deep ocean. Laying under the waves is one of the main reasons why the U.S. publicized the assault on Truck as an act of revenge and retribution.
When America entered World War II and declared war on Japan, it was due in part to the actions of the Japanese submarine I-169 who had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. It managed to penetrate the harbor confines, where it launched five mini-subs that went on to destroy two U.S. battleships.
So she's got this enormously impressive military track record. And not only that, she also survives Operation Hailstone. So, you know, she's an incredibly lucky sub. But of course, that luck is going to change. Following Operation Hailstone, the remaining Japanese vessels that were lucky enough to have survived the attack were on constant high alert. And on the 4th of April, 1944, I-169 received the message they had been fearing.
B-24 bombers had been spotted in the sky, triggering an air raid. Wanting to avoid being struck, they performed an emergency dive. But in doing so, one of the ventilation valves had remained open, flooding the control room. The 1,400-ton submarine, along with over 80 of her crew members, were now stuck at the bottom of the lagoon with limited air and little chance of rescue. But suddenly, there was a glimmer of hope.
Rescue divers were sent down to the sunken submarine and signaled to the trapped crew by banging on the hull. The crewmen inside, shocked but tentatively hopeful, used a hammer to knock from their side. Ultimately confirming that there were still survivors, a rescue mission was commenced to bring the trapped crew members to the surface.
So they get these barges out with big cables and these cables start winching this submarine up. But as the submarine broke the surface, with the crew just moments away from salvation, disaster struck.
But of course the problem is this submarine is far heavier than it normally is because you know it's half full of water. The added weight of the flooded compartments those cables snapped and the submarine fell back to the bottom of the lagoon. Divers go back bang on the side of the hull and this time there is no reply. Arriving at Mystery Wreck, GPS knows where it is. Yeah we're about 80 meters, 50 meters straight up.
Back on the surface, Bill and Jim are homing in on the GPS coordinates of the mystery wreck. Jim suits up and prepares for his two-hour long dive. Well, it's all up to you now. Okay, no problem. No pressure. No pressure. No pressure. Just a couple atmospheres of pressure. Jim then enters the water and descends in the hope of discovering an unknown wreck. All Bill can do is wait. As the light starts to fade, so does Jim's chances of finding anything.
"24 minutes? Wow. Is he okay? Oh, it's getting close to dark, isn't it? Yeah, I think he would have signaled to us in some way that he'd found something." Finally, after 40 minutes, Jim signals to let the crew know all is okay by sending up an inflatable tube that rises to the surface, showing his position. However, they'll have to wait for him to finish his decompression before they'll find out if he made any discoveries.
As he'd just come up with his red float that he's using to say that he's decompressing. It came up a long way off the wreck, so if it found something, I think he would have come up a lot closer. Sometimes you win them and sometimes you don't. An hour and a half passes, and Jim returns to the surface. The boat crew are eagerly awaiting to hear his news.
I mean obviously you guys want to know did I find it? Yeah. No, no, no. I didn't see anything in the first like 15, 18 minutes. It's only after about 20 minutes in the dive when I started seeing things.
I found an anchor in at least three parts. I don't know how you break an anchor. Yeah. I mean, literally, this was broken. And I found what looked to be part of a hole plating or something that was probably two meters, 12 feet across, but blown through the middle like an explosion. It ripped the metal open. So something blew up around here, I think.
The following morning, Jim and Bill meet up to review the footage from yesterday's dive to figure out what it was Jim swam into. This was what got me the most excited. Looked like just some twisted metal, and that's actually what it is. This is heavy-duty metal, thick gauge, and it is just curled up all over. Looks like it was blown out this way from an explosion. What you found looked more like debris. Yeah, it's evidence of something
Massive force. Massive force. That metal's curled over. It's not just blown like this a little bit. It's curled over. And the anchor is broken. And I mean, I can't imagine what it takes to break an anchor. Where you came up seemed to be in the direction of where Aikoku, the shipwreck, was. The Aikoku Maru was an armed merchant cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, sunk during Operation Hailstone.
Since its discovery over 40 years ago, a question mark has remained over the mysterious whereabouts of its missing bowel section. The answer may lie in eyewitness accounts.
Gradvin recounts the story his father used to tell him about where he was on the day of the brutal attack. You know, the attack came in in the morning before sunrise. And some of his relatives call him and wake them. The relative said, "I think that we are under attack." And everybody run into a cave. And then my father, as a young youth, wants to see what's going on, what's happened.
and he sneaked out from the cave. He stood under a big tree. Then he watched some of the airplanes flying, and he said he saw a star on one of the planes.
He saw ships running with smoke. And he just stayed there on the shore watching. He just was so much in shock, especially because he had worked on those ships. He said that he saw the Aikoku. Kimiyu watched as the Aikoku was struck by four aerial bombs. Crippled but still afloat, she was attacked again in a second pass with a torpedo.
She took a direct hit in cargo hold number one, which was laden with ammunition and explosives. That's when he saw it disappear in a mushroom cloud that lasted one minute and the ship was gone. And there is about 700 to 800 army on the boat, and they went down. Everyone went down with the ship. I remember my father told me that he has a very special friend
He said he's very sad because his friend went down with the ship when the attack came. The blast was so great that it even destroyed the US Avenger aircraft, which had launched the torpedo, killing all its crew members. The Aikoku was probably
the biggest explosion that they witnessed and talked about. Yeah, that sort of jagged metal you saw. Jagged metal. That was, I mean, I've seen that on shipwrecks still attached. I've never seen it just laying out. So that could have been the piece, you know, piece of the whole plating that was just blown apart. I think what they found, I think that's part of the Aikoku because before Aikoku went down, there is a big splash on the surface.
And I'm sure and I think that's the part of the Aikoku Maru. The clues suggest that what Jim and Bill have found is part of a ship destroyed by a massive explosive force. Very likely, the Aikoku Maru, showing that even today, ongoing research and discoveries continue to shed new light on the events that took place here over 70 years ago.
The Hokimaru, the Aikokumaru, the submarine I-169, and each and every wreck in Chuk Lagoon lays testament to the sacrifices made on both sides during the war, including the suffering of the innocent local people who became caught up in the greatest conflict the world has ever seen.
These jaw-dropping wrecks will continue to fascinate, and this gorgeous lagoon in the Pacific that once saw such destruction and devastation will continue to enlighten. What did happen to the innocent ship crew of the Hokie Maru? For a deep dive into their story as prisoners of war, listen to our extra episode, Forbidden Fruit, available soon on all your favorite podcast platforms.
This is an audio production by Like A Shot Entertainment. Presented by Bridget Lappin. Executive Producers Danny O'Brien and Henry Scott. Story Producer Maddie Bowers. Assistant Producer Alice Tudor. Thank you for listening.