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Nippo Maru

One of the deepest wrecks that we dived during our stay, was the Nippo Maru. She was only discovered in June 1980 by Klaus Lindemann, and is one of the most interesting wrecks in the Lagoon. (Klaus Lindemann wrote Hailstorm Over Truk Lagoon, the definitive work on the shipwrecks and associated history of Truk Lagoon.)

Engine telegraphs in the bridge.

Engine telegraphs in the bridge.

The Nippo Maru was a medium sized freighter, some three hundred and fifty feet long with a fifty-foot beam. She was built by the Kawasaki Dockyard and launched in September 1936. At first she was used as a fruit transporter, shipping bananas from Taiwan to Japan. Then she was converted into a water transport ship and munitions carrier. She would frequently stop at Truk to take on water and then distribute it and any munitions around the garrisons on the smaller coral islands that did not have enough of their own supply.

Nippo Maru

Nippo Maru

Whilst on one of these round robins on February 16th 1945 she was bombed and torpedoed and sank in 160 feet of water. She now rests upright with a heavy list to port, and her stern almost buried in a sloping reef. The Nippo Maru is often called the ” the million dollar wreck ” because her five holds are packed full with ammunition and armaments of all kinds. Hemispherical mines, cannon barrels, gun mounts for shore batteries, machine guns, gas masks, bronze rangefinders and small arms ammunition of all kinds lie scattered all around this wreck. The bridge is almost intact with its ships compass and engine telegraphs. Nearly all the wrecks that we dived had these instuments in their bridges, but it was still such a thrill to see these artefacts still in situ.

Yes its a tank.

Yes its a tank.

Near number 4 hold are three field howitzers still mounted on their wheeled carriages. These are a fantastic sight but the best was yet to come, and it is what the Nippo Maru has become famous for. A tank. That’s right a tank just standing on the main deck near number 2 hold at a depth of about 130 feet. This tank is a Type 95 Ha-Go or Ke-Go, built by Mitsubishi. They weigh about seven and a half tons, were powered by 120 horsepower diesel engine, and had a crew of three. The tank is a great sight, and as you drift back up to the dive boat you get to see the whole wreck laid out, but you keep your eye on the tank until it fades from view.

A field howitzer

A field howitzer

Truk Lagoon Dive Trip Report:

  • Truk Lagoon: Setting The Scene
  • Truk Lagoon: The Reason
  • Fujikawa Maru
  • Betty Bomber
  • Nippon Maru
  • Rio De Janeiro
  • Hoki Maru
  • Fumazuki
  • Kimio Aisak
  • Truk Aggressor
  • U.S.S. Arizona

Truk Lagoon, World Wrecks

Comments

  1. Robert Bodkin says

    April 30, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    The “Million Dollar Wreck” is the San Francisco Maru, not the Nippo Maru.

  2. David says

    October 29, 2019 at 7:56 am

    I thought she was discovered in 1969 by Jaques Cousteau?

  3. joe mama says

    May 4, 2021 at 5:40 pm

    me like

IMPORTANT: Please note the author of this article, Peter Mitchell, passed away in 2015. Comments are now closed.

Submerged Books and DVDs

The Wreckers Guide To South West Devon Part 1
The Wrecker's Guide To South West Devon Part 1
The Wreckers Guide To South West Devon Part 2
The Wrecker's Guide To South West Devon Part 2
Plymouth Breakwater Book
The Plymouth Breakwater Book
The Plymouth Breakwater DVD
The Plymouth Breakwater DVD
Shooting Magic DVD
Shooting Magic DVD
Devon Shipwrecks DVD
Devon Shipwrecks DVD
The Silent Menace DVD
The Silent Menace DVD
The Tragedy Of The HMS Dasher DVD
The Tragedy Of the The HMS Dasher DVD
Missing  DVD
Missing: The Story Of The A7 Submarine DVD
HMS Royal Oak DVD
HMS Royal Oak DVD
Bombs And Bullets DVD
Bombs And Bullets DVD
Bay Watch DVD
Bay Watch DVD

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Devon Shipwrecks

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World Shipwrecks

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Shipwreck Book Reviews

  • Neutral Buoyancy – Tim Ecott
  • Admiral Shovell’s Treasure-R.Larn & R.McBride
  • The Silent Service – John Parker
  • Scapa Flow In War And Peace-W.S.Hewison
  • This Great Harbour-W.S.Hewison
  • The Duchess-Pamela Eriksson
  • Stokers Submarine-Fred &Liz Brencley
  • The Wreck at Sharpnose Point – J.Seale
  • Business in Great Waters – John Terraine
  • Submarine in Camera – Hall & Kemp
  • Autumn of the Uboats – Geoff Jones
  • Under the Red Sea – Hans Hass
  • To Unplumbed Depths – Hans Hass
  • Goldfinger – Keith Jessop
  • Custom of the Sea – Niel Hanson
  • Stalin’s Gold – Barry Penrose
  • Pieces of Eight – Kip Wagner
  • The Man Who Bought a Navy – Gerald Bowman
  • The Treasure Divers – Kendall McDonald
  • The Deepest Days – Robert Stenhuit
  • The Wreck Hunters – Kendal McDonald
  • Sea Diver – Marion Clayton Link
  • The Other Titanic – Simon Martin
  • Falco,chief diver of the Calypso – Falco & Diole
  • World without Sun – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Ship of Gold – Gary Kinder
  • Seven Miles Down – Piccard & Dietz
  • The Living Sea – J.Y.Cousteau
  • The Undersea Adventure – Philip Diole
  • Life and Death in a Coral Sea – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Dolphins – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Whale – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Shark – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Sea Lion- Elephant Seal and Walrus – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Octopus and Squid – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Shadow Divers – Robert Kurson
  • A Time to Die, the story of the Kursk – R. Moore
  • The Sea Around Us – Rachel Carson

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