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Fumitzuki Dive 1, Log #277. – Destroyer Escort, lies upright with a port list, decks at 100’, props at 120’. 122’ for 56 mins.
 This is one of the few warships sunk at Truk, as the fleet had sailed two days before the attack in 1944. It wasn’t discovered until a few years ago.
Marcia and I enter the water after the others, and after orienting ourselves amidships, we swim towards the stern.
The bridge was blown apart, but one of the two stacks remains intact. Aft gun mount fairly intact, covered with soft corals. I checked out the bomb damaged stern and the massive prop and shaft that’s half buried in the sand at 120’. Each blade was maybe 8’ in radian. Shoot a few angles and start swimming back at an angle to the aft gun mount. Swam inside to see the training mechanism and soft coral framed by the opening and barrel.
Continued swimming forwards tot he torpedo mount, go inside to see its training mechanism and rack for several torpedoes. Continue to forward gun and then bow. Tuna and Batfish cruise around, and Phil and Roseanne swim by, the others have already gone up.
Go aft and found a nice anemone and start up the line with 1000# left. Do 2 mins at 27’ and then 5 mins at 15’ to clear deco. Do an additional 12 mins to get gauge down some before surfacing. Great dive, easy pace. I later found out that my focus setting was incorrectly set for the wide angle lens and my roll was bad – no pics :-((
Dive 2, Log #278, Hanakawa Maru 367’, lies upright. 83 for 1:06 mins.
Capt Lenny says in the briefing that this freighter was an oiler and isn’t dove on much. Until a few years ago there was a lot of danger from leftover aviation gas burning divers. However, it has dissipated, and as long as you stay out of the holds you are ok. It was only 4 months old when sunk and isn’t particularly deep. We’ll do two dives on it.
We decide to go to the deeper stern section after descending amidships. While touring the fantail we find and shoo a somewhat cooperative lionfish. Also find a pipefish, which was less than cooperative for a photo. Lots of nice soft and hard coral, and large gorgonian fans choke the companion ways.
Head back amidships alongside blast debris and hold that still have AV gas in barrels. Go inside galley, large rice cooker and stove there. Poke around and then exit through the fire decayed roof. Shoot some pottery on the deck, see some lizardfish and then head back up the masts to the surface.
 Dive #3, Log #279, Hanakawa Maru, 66’ for 55 mins.
After lunch we head back in to tour the bow. After taking pictures of the sponson post, we head over the bow to shoot the stretched out and encrusted anchor chain – really nice soft corals, black coral and tube coral growths. Come back up and swim along to look for photo ops, but viz has clouded up from diving, or just the tide change. Find very large beige gorgonian fans on outside edge of the hull and companionways.
Also shoot small triangular cabin with 3 ports under ladder, must have been some sort of place to watch derricks loading drums.
Forward cabin had a big mass of hose in it. Blown apart drums of gas litter the wreck everywhere from explosion and fire.
Come back up mast and shot rest of film on small stuff. Wire forestay is still standing. These masts are completely covered in growth and are nurseries for fish, very pretty and fun to hang out on.
Dive 4, Log #280 Sankisan Maru , upright in two sections, stern is away in deep water. 71 for 56 mins.
After all too short a nap, we arrive at our anchorage for the night and a late afternoon dive. Quick briefing, there are 3 holds to visit as well as decks.
Nothing prepares me for the total devastation we encounter. In fading light, the totally twisted remains of the large ammo carrier loom. What isn’t blown apart is covered in growth and is difficult to tell apart from the reef it rests alongside of.
We drop into hold number two to find the remains of several trucks and swimming further, small mountains of ammo. Clips, cases of bullets, and machine gun belts everywhere. Look around a bit, then swim out and am a bit disoriented, it’s hard to tell where you are in the mass of metal and coral.
I find the bow and we turn around in the 60’ depths and head back - now in complete darkness except for our lights. The ship is so twisted its hard to stay on it at times, occasionally I swim off it past the edge of the hull.
We drop into another large hold (2-3 stories high and 100 yards across) to find mountains of medicine bottles and coal. Then back over to the end of what was the amidships and is now the torn end of the wreck.
I turn around to the side and check out the outside – mostly twisted and loose plates and girders. We see and shoot a large puffer fish and then ascend into the darkness. From above we see first one and then two of the blinking strobes that the crew has put at the ends of Odyssey underwater. (Steve sees a shark bite one of them!)
Grabbing the hang bar we find that the boat is moving fairly violently in the glassy swells that have come up. I grab the rope to ease my movement as we do our time. Then Marcia points behind us at several dark shapes swimming around. I point the light and see the glint off the eyes of 3 or 4 grey reef sharks. We look at each other and decide enough is enough and pile out of the water quickly. Glad there are two ladders!
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