Fujikawa Maru Truk Lagoon June 2024

The Fujikawa Maru was a refrigerated cargo ship that was built in 1938 for the Toyo Kaiun Kisen Kaisha. At 450 ft long and nearly 59 feet in the beam, she was used as a liner on the North American run carrying passengers in comfortable accommodations, and also cargo of raw silk, cotton, jute and flax. She was requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II for use as an auxiliary armed aircraft transport or ferry, and was rerated as an auxiliary transport on 1 January 1944. She ferried aircraft all over the Pacific. On the 12 Sept 1943 the Fujikawa Maru was hit by a torpedo from the American submarine Permit, but despite extensive damage she managed to avoid further action and limped into the safety of Truk Lagoon.
On 17-18 February 1944 she was hit repeatedly by US bombers and torpedo bombers from the US carrier group which included the U.S.S. Monterey and Bunker Hill. She struck amidships just aft of the bridge superstructure. The Fujikawa was anchored at the time, and as she filled with water, she began to slowly sink stern first and ended up on an almost even keel 110 feet down at the bottom of the Lagoon. She is an impressive wreck today with a hold full of Japanese Zero fighters and fighter parts.