Fujikawa Maru

The Fujikawa Maru is a 6,983 ton 6-hold freighter the most popular wreck in the lagoon with tons of coral around the stern and bow guns and five Zero fighters in the second hold. You can see the engine room but it requires special wreck diving skills Its 30 ft. 9 m. with the deck 60 ft. 18 m. The bottom is 112 ft. 34 m. and it is 433 ft. 132 m. long with a gross Tonnage of: 6,938 tons. It lies between the Eten and Uman Islands great for night dives too.It was originally a passenger cargo ship that was recruited in 1940 by the Imperial Japanese Navy into an aircraft ferry. During Operation Hailstone in 44' planes from US launched 3E-1 two torpedoes causing a slow irreversible process toward sinking. More than one dive is needed to get the full impact of the ship first head to the bow where you can see the telegraph on the portside. You can also see wing tanks, coils of wire, tail sections of fighters, engine cowlings, machine guns, wings and shells as well as an outboard motor, drums and a radial plane engine. On the third hold you can penetrate the bridge from the door in the deck where there are rooms with saki bottles strewn around . The multi-level catwalks are worth exploring as is the engine - six cylinder diesel. If you dive for 45 minutes seeing the prop and deeper holds you'll need three minutes of decompression at three metres. The whole ship is bedecked with rainbow coral to rival Pacific reefs.