CONSTELLATION II

Wreck Divers' Paradise

- Truk Lagoon

 

Latitude: 7º 22’ 19.99"North 

Longitude: 151º 44’ 30.53" East


Constellation II is owned by Alex Sinclair. It is a gorgeous 56ft Fontaine Pajot.  If you ever have the opportunity of jumping aboard her, do so.  You will treasure your time aboard, her wonderful outdoor and indoor space, her many luxuries, and the owner’s joie de vie. There are too many fabulous stories to relate, with regards to my Trans-Pacific Crossing aboard Constellation II - our motley crews, amazing spinnaker runs, broken rigging, hole at the waterline, running alongside typhoons, northerly busters, low pressure systems, a la Flordita, shady night clubs, Senor Frogs, Marguerita Ville, liars dice, bad fuel - the list of memories, experiences, and knowledge compound and press upon each other - enough material for a novel. I have chosen to write about just one place and one grand experience.  

 

As we made our way across the Western Pacific and into the Federated States of Micronesia, I became ever more excited about arriving at Truk Lagoon. I had never heard of it but it felt like a destination, not a port of call.  Before getting to Truk (Chuuk), we stopped for some diving at Kwajalien, and although, Truk Lagoon would steal my diving heart, I have to mention of a shallow wreck at Kwajalien, whereby the locals had strung guide wires throughout her, and you could take off and follow the guide wires in near zero visibility through the smallest of openings and long shafts.  I loved the experience of relying mainly on one handed touch, as I did not dare let go of the guide wire, to make my way through the wreck. It was my first experience of zero visibility in such narrow confines where turning around was for the most part impossible. It wetted my appetite, and with exulted anticipation, we sailed to Truk Lagoon.

I managed to have Alex Sinclair, a well-experienced dive master, as my dive buddy for all my diving in the western Pacific.  I was delighted to be so fortunate.  Nick, our dive organizer, in Truk Lagoon was amazing.  He took us to different wrecks, gave us some of the history, and then took us down to play in the wrecks.

The Japanese fleet hid out in Truk Lagoon in WW II.  They disguised their fleet to look like the islands, hoping to avoid American detection.  The Americans did figure out their disguise and attacked.  About 35 warships of the Japanese fleet lay at the bottom of Truk Lagoon. Jacques Cousteau found these wrecks and it was declared a protected marine site. Watch the slide show at the top right hand side of this page to get a sense of the underwater marine graveyard and gorgeous ecosystems in Truk Lagoon. Read the National Park Service historical article below for the historical importance and context of Truk Lagoon.

'Truk Lagoon served as an important and formidable Japanese advance naval base during WWII, and today contains the remains of numerous sea vessels of this period. A devastating U.S. Navy carrier strike on Truk Lagoon in 1944, demonstrated American aerial superiority in the Pacific Theater.  From July 1942 to February 1944, Japan's Combined Fleet operated out of Truk, extending its power into the Southeast and Southern Pacific. In August 1942, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet (First, Seond and Third Fleets and the Sixth Submarine Fleet) arrived in Truk, maintaining his headquarters on board the giant battleship, Yamato.  When Admiral Yamamoto's airplane was shot down near Rabaul on April 18, 1943, by American aircraft in an ambush attack, he was replaced by Admiral Mineichi Koga, whose flagship at Truk was the Musashi.  

The threat of an American attack in February 1944 caused the Combined Fleet to withdraw from Truk on February 10, never to return.  The U.S. Navy's carrier strike on February 17 and 18, 1944, coordinated with an assault on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, seriously impaired Truk's air force, destroyed virtually all Japanese shipping in the lagoon and heavily damaged land installations.  

Truk was now virtually defenseless and the US decided an invasion was unnecessary. The successful attack allowed plans to be made to bypass Truk and to strike at Japan's inner defenses in the Marianas.  Within the lagoon are the submerged remains of freigters, tankers, supply vessels, the Fumitsuki, a Japanese destroyer and the 1-169, a large Japanese submarine.  Today, the "underwater fleet" at Truk, resting amidst an infinite variety of marine life and containing the honored remains of Japanese warriors, is one of the world's underwater treasures."  

The coral is phenomenal.  It has been shaped by the superstructure it has built itself on.  Coral tanks, guns, aircraft, torpedoes – truly amazing to behold.  Time has not stood still; rather new ecosystems have flourished and brought life to this maritime graveyard.  Its teeming life and gorgeous colour make wandering in, around, through, and over the wrecks one of the most exquisite diving experiences in the world.  It is an all in one dive, from dark murky close quarters in engines rooms, to long coral and fish filled companionways, to looking out from their bridges at sharks, groupers, while clownfish play in the anemone which have taken over the helm, or swimming through torpedo holes – there has been nothing in my diving experiences that match the diving in Truk Lagoon.

 

If you do not have a dive ticket, get one. Keep going until you become an advanced diver, a dive master, and a nitrox diver.  Most the dives are shallow enough for anyone with advanced diving or above to enjoy, but oh the wonders to behold at lower depths.  They have liveaboards in Truk, and having had the luxury of diving from Constellation II, I would mostly certainly suggest that you take a couple of weeks and jump onboard a liveaboard and ENJOY the truly spectacular marine life and history of this most amazing place.

 

I went on to spend a lot more time on Constellation II, make a lot more journeys, and learn a whole heap more about yachting and yacht maintenance.

I owe Alex Sinclair a big thanks for all the memories, journeys onboard Constellation II, for believing in me and ever encouraging me to do my 200T ticket.  For trusting me enough to allow me to do all types of maintenance, to run passengers around to pristine islands for weeks at a time, lending wise words and a helping hand, and imparting his knowledge whenever he could.