San Francisco Maru

The San Francisco Maru is Chuuk Lagoon's 'Million Dollar Wreck' — a 117-meter Japanese cargo ship sunk during Operation Hailstone on February 17, 1944, whose holds still contain a staggering array of wartime cargo including Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks, trucks, mines, aircraft bombs, torpedoes, and crates of small arms and ammunition. She rests upright at 64 meters with her deck at 45 meters, placing her firmly in technical diving territory and ensuring her extraordinary cargo remains almost untouched. The wreck is renowned for three Type 95 tanks that sit on the forward deck, their gun barrels pointed skyward, encrusted with 80 years of marine growth but still unmistakably tanks. The aft holds contain trucks, aircraft engine components, and massive quantities of ordnance. The bridge, engine room, and cargo holds can all be explored by properly trained technical divers, with the ship's bell still hanging in the pilot house. Marine life has transformed the wreck despite its depth. Hard and soft corals cloak the superstructure, gorgonian fans frame the tanks, and resident giant moray eels, groupers, and Napoleon wrasse inhabit the hull. Barracuda schools patrol the upper deck, and the depth attracts less common species — grey reef sharks, hammerheads in passing, and the occasional thresher shark sighted at the thermocline. The San Francisco Maru is strictly a technical dive — maximum depth of 64 meters and bottom time at 45-50 meters require trimix certification, decompression planning, and specialized equipment. Even reaching the upper deck requires Deep Air or Trimix training. The wreck is accessed from liveaboards or Chuuk-based technical operators, with visibility typically 15-25 meters. The San Francisco Maru is not a recreational dive and has claimed lives when divers exceeded their training; she is reserved for properly prepared technical divers seeking one of the most significant WWII wrecks accessible anywhere.