Truk Lagoon
Fujikawa Maru
Every book I read about Truk wrecks said something to the extent that the "Fujikawa was a must-do wreck" and "if you could only do one dive in the lagoon, this was the wreck to do". Given the attention it must get, I thought that the wreck would be overdived and boring but discovered that all the books were right - it was amazing.
Similar to other wrecks, 437 ft long Fujikawa was sunk on Feb 18, 1942. Before the war, she was a passenger cargo ship manned by a crew of 40. During her military service, she was the aircraft parts transport and a ferry. She managed to sink on a even keel and sits on the bottom in about 115 ft of water with her engine room between 90 and 50 ft? and pilothouse and bow in 40-45ft. Her kingpost is raising to 15 ft and is a perfect spot for a deco stop. It is also decorated by various corals and sponges and attracts a lot of fish. I actually did a whole 40 min dive just on that king post shooting various blennies and hawk fishes.
Fujikawa's holds are full of interesting artifacts, including Aircraft engines and machine guns in hold #1; four airplane fuselages in hold #2; gas cylinders and hoses in hold #5 and bottles, china and mess kits in hold #6.
Visibility went from spectacular (70-80ft) during our first week in Truk to 30ft during the second week. First week, I was seeing all the way to the bow gun while hanging at the 15 ft on the king post.
Highlights are numerous and include all of the above, but the engine room is definitely the main attraction for me. Home to a R2D2 made famous in Jim Chuch's book as well as wide variety of other instruments and tools, the engine room is beyond interesting. There are several access points into the engine room - the outer casing is not quite intact. First time we squeezed through a very tight hole and then noticed lots of much better access points. Next time we got in though the skylight, and exited into the door that led to the crew quarters, galley and the mess. The engine itself is quite interesting - it has six cylinders and the mesh grating along the port side separates the engine from the well equipped workshop. There are so many different pieces of equipment in that workshop, that i spent the whole roll of film right there.
Hazards - not too many really, It could be quite tight and certain areas, so be considerate of other divers behind you.
Engine room and the workshop
Holds, inluding hold #2 with airplane fuselages
Companionways; crew quarters; galley and mess; pilot house
Bow gun and anniversary plaques
Other items
