Heian Maru was a Converted submarine tender and was sunk during Operation Hailstone
This short article about the Heian Maru wreck is to provide you with a few basic details about this Japanese World War II ship. The Heian Maru is one of the many Truk Lagoon wrecks for scuba divers to dive in Chuuk Lagoon.
Truk Lagoon wreck Heian Maru was sunk by American aircraft at Chuuk Lagoon during Operation Hailstorm in 1944. The Heian Maru is the largest of Chuuk’s “Ghost Fleet” wrecks and was a converted submarine tender, but originally a Japanese ocean liner weighing 11,614 tons and 155 metres (510 ft) long.
Scuba divers seem to use these two names synonymously. Whilst the correct name is Chuuk Lagoon, at the time these Japanese ships were sunk it was named Truk Lagoon.
The best way to dive Truk Lagoon is by a scuba diving liveaboard. You can check the latest and best deals on Truk Lagoon liveaboards using the following window:
The wrecks are now dived by scuba divers from across the world.
Truk Lagoon dive liveaboards table
This list of Truk Lagoon liveaboards is in descending customer rating order, followed by Scuba Diving Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating, see below), so the liveaboards with the highest customer rating and the best SDE lux rating will be at the top of the list. If you want to change the list order, use the “Sort by” dropdown below.
The Scuba Diving Earth Luxury Rating (SDE Lux Rating) is explained on each liveaboard review when you click the “Discover Liveaboard” link, and is my own Liveaboard Luxury Rating I’ve assigned to all liveaboards. Choosing between liveaboards is helped by customer scores, and if you get stuck choosing between two or three liveaboards, where each one has a high customer score out of 10, you can use the SDE Luxury Rating to help narrow down your choice.
Think about it like using Booking.com when searching for the best hotel. Booking.com also use a customer score where each customer rates hotels out of 10. This is similar to the liveaboard customer rating, which is also rated out of 10. But let’s say you only like to stay in hotels rated 8 and above on Booking.com, but you also want the hotel to have WIFI or parking, or to have a swimming pool etc. The features each hotel has is usually secondary to the score out of 10.
Details of Heian Maru the largest Truk Lagoon wreck
Heian Maru was a Japanese ocean liner launched in 1930.
The word ‘Maru’ in Japanese ship naming protocol designates a merchant vessel. Ironically the Heian Maru operated NYK line’s trans-Pacific service between Yokohama and Seattle, USA before the war.
It was only just before the outbreak of the Pacific War of World War II that this commercial liner was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy to be converted into an auxiliary submarine tender.
The Heian Maru Wreck – Truk Lagoon, The Ghost Fleet. Operation Hailstone The Heian Maru – one of the largest wrecks to be found in the waters of Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon at a length of 155m. Built in 1930 as a Passenger-Cargo Ship with interior decoration designed in the “old English” style she was considered a major innovation in ships at the time with the high standards of decoration carried out in the ship’s lounge, reading room, writing room, and dining salon. On her maiden voyage, she set a trans-Pacific speed record on a trip to Seattle. Seattle shippers spread the word through the media that the arrival of the new ship might be regarded as a gesture of friendship from the business interests of Japan. Following this theme of friendship, the ship’s owners opened up the Heian Maru to the public, letting nearly 15,000 people tour the vessel. The crowds were so great that hundreds had to be turned away. She was converted into a Navy submarine tender in 1941, and was an integral part of the 6th Submarine Fleet initially based in Kwajalein, and subsequently stationed at Truk.
I hope you enjoyed this article about Heian Maru ship wreck of Truk Lagoon
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If this article hasn’t answered all of your questions. If you have more questions either about snorkeling or scuba diving (or specifically about Heian Maru wreck of Truk Lagoon), please comment below with your questions.
There will also be many more articles about scuba diving (and snorkeling) for you to read and learn about these fabulous sports.
Have fun and be safe!
Heian Maru Wreck Of Truk Lagoon (Details Of Truk Lagoon Wrecks)
Scuba Dive Truk Lagoon Rio De Janeiro Maru Wreck… Truk Lagoon Wreck Rio De Janeiro Maru is 10-33 metres (35-110 feet) deep. The Rio De Janeiro Maru is an easy dive and can be done by recreational divers
Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been a scuba diver since diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia in 1989. After his first dive he trained as a BSAC diver in the UK. He attained his Diver Leader certification with BSAC. He then went on to become a scuba diving instructor, teaching others how to dive and was voted as Diving Officer and Treasurer for the Saffron Walden BSAC club too. Russell has dived all over the world, including the UK, on liveaboards in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, South Africa and the USA. Russell is experienced in all dive types, including drift diving, deep dives that involved decompression stops and recreational dives too.
