TRAVELLER Where ships lie
OUR REGION
Peril in the skies … Douglas Dauntless dive bombers prepare to attack ships in Truk Lagoon during World War 2 (right); a former Japanese hospital, slowly being reclaimed by the jungle (left).
to stand like a giddy, drunken sailor, great chunks of red-hot metal rained down on him, leaving smoking patches of grass all around the yard. Aisek focused his blurry eyes on where his friend’s ship had been and saw the last section of hull slip beneath the water amid billowing clouds of acrid smoke.
When the three-day carnage was over, 12 smaller Japanese warships and 32 merchant ships were sunk, either in the lagoon or at sea while trying to escape. At the same time, 275 aircraft were destroyed, mainly on the ground. The majority of Japan’s heavy warships normally stationed there
46 Paradise – Air Niugini’s in-flight magazine
had left for the safety of Palau in the days prior. Thereafter, Truk Lagoon earned the title of ‘the biggest graveyard of ships in the world’. Another event in the history of Truk Lagoon was the arrival of famous French diver and documentary maker, Jacques
Cousteau in 1969. Cousteau had learned of a recent US Navy survey of the lagoon that had located many of the undisturbed wrecks, and he was eager to make one of his Undersea World TV episodes. Cousteau, himself, only came for a few days to make a cameo appearance, but his crew stayed