title 
Work Boat World

Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks

Marjorie Gerlinger
Author: Rod Macdonald
Publisher: Whittles Publishing

From Baird Maritime

We have come across wreck diving fanatic Rod Macdonald before, initially with his books about British shipwrecks. More recently, though, he has dived on the World War II wrecks of the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Macdonald's enthusiasm is infectious. It is easy to see, knowing where he comes from, why the Pacific is so appealing to him.

Anyway, the famous lagoon surrounding the enchanting Micronesian islands that comprise Truk is as famous as a ship cemetery in the Pacific as Scapa Flow is in Macdonald's home Scottish waters in the Atlantic.

The author describes the history of the Japanese occupation of Truk (now known as Chuuk) and the devastating Operation Hailstone attack by the US Navythat took place in February to April 1944 and which resulted in 38 sunken, mainly merchant vessels, in the lagoon. Truk then ceased to be of importance as a base and was "island hopped" until the end of the war.

Macdonald has produced an extensive and fascinating compendium of the wrecks that now lie peacefully in this beautiful lagoon.

Ordering information:

Whittles Publishing
Dunbeath, Scotland

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