Length 500ft Beam 65ft 10,020tons
One Man Diesel Engine Driving a Single Prop.
The Shinkoku Maru was built in 1939 as a tanker, her construction was subsidised by the fuel starved Japanese Navy. Her first voyages were to carry oil from the United States to Japan prior to the embargo. In 1941 she was requisitioned by the Japanese Navy that used her as a fleet oiler. Shinkoku Maru’s most noteworthy mission was to participate with Admiral Nagumo’s strike force’s attack on Pearl harbour.
She arrived in Truk 3 days prior to Operation Hailstone. While at anchor she received a direct hit amidships by a Dauntless dive bomber from USS Yorktown that opened up a large hole in her engine room. The next day she was torpedoed.
She now rests on an even keel with her deck at 20m and sea bed at 39 m, where at the stern you find a single prop. She has both a stern and bow gun that are crusted in heavy coral. The engine room is easy to penetrate as well as other parts of the superstructure.
The whole wreck is covered in hard and soft coral, sponges, and fan corals. Also with large shoals of fish. Shinkoku has become a living artificial reef .
