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Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. It lies about 1,800 kilometres (970 nautical miles) northeast of New Guinea and is part of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). A protective reef, 225 kilometres (140 mi) around, encloses a natural harbour 79 by 50 km (43 nmi × 27 nmi), with an area of 2,130 km2 (820 sq mi).1989 Census p. 1 It has a land area of 93.07 square kilometres (35.93 square miles), with a population of 36,158 people2010 Census p ii and a maximal elevation of 443 metres (1,453 ft). Weno city on Weno (formerly Moen) Island functions as both the atoll's capital and the state capital, and is the largest city in the FSM with its 13,700 people.
Chuuk Lagoon was the Empire of Japan's main naval base in the Pacific War during World War II. It was the site of a major U.S. attack during Operation Hailstone in February 1944, and Operation Inmate, a small assault conducted by British and Canadian forces during June 1945.
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As part of the Caroline Islands, Truk was claimed by the Spanish Empire, which made an effort to control the islands in the late 19th century. Chuuk Lagoon was inhabited by several tribes that engaged in intermittent warfare, as well as a small population of foreign traders and missionaries. Spanish control over the islands was nominal. The Spaniards stopped to raise a flag over Chuuk in 1886 and returned in 1895 as part of an attempt to assert control and negotiate peace between warring Chuukese tribes. No permanent Spanish settlement was established, and tribal violence continued until the German colonial era. The Caroline Islands were sold to the German Empire in 1899, after Spain withdrew from the Pacific in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War.
During the First World War, the Japanese Navy was tasked with pursuing and destroying the German East Asia Squadron and protection of the shipping lanes for Allied commerce in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the course of this operation, the Japanese Navy seized the German possessions in the Mariana Islands, Carolines, Marshall Islands and Palau groups by October 1914. Chuuk then became a possession of the Empire of Japan under the South Seas Mandate following Germany's defeat.
Nevertheless, Truk was the main base for Japanese operations against Allied forces in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, serving as the forward anchorage for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and Truk Lagoon was considered the most formidable of all Japanese strongholds in the Pacific. On the various islands, the Japanese Civil Engineering Department and Naval Construction Department had built roads, trenches, bunkers and caves. Five airstrips, seaplane bases, a torpedo boat station, submarine repair shops, a communications center and a radar station were constructed during the war. Protecting these various facilities were coastal defense guns and mortar emplacements.
A significant portion of the Japanese fleet was based at Truk, with its administrative center on Tonoas (south of Weno). At anchor in the lagoon were , , , , tankers, , , , , landing craft, and . In particular, Yamato and Musashi were stationed at Truk for months around 1943, unable to participate in battle. The Japanese garrison consisted of 27,856 IJN men, under the command of Vice Admiral Masami Kobayashi, then Vice Admiral Chuichi Hara, and 16,737 Imperial Japanese Army men, under the command of Major General Kanenobu Ishuin.
At one point, dropping a nuclear weapon on Truk was discussed by the United States government.Hornfischer, James (2022), Who Can Hold the Sea: The U.S. Navy in the Cold War, 1945-1960, pg. 22. "In 1944, planners at the Manhattan Engineer District at Project Y had discussed testing the new weapon against Truk..."
In 1944, Truk's capacity as a naval base was destroyed through naval air attack in Operation Hailstone. Forewarned by intelligence a week before the U.S. raid, the Japanese had withdrawn their larger warships (heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers) to Palau. Once the American forces captured the Marshall Islands, they used them as a base from which to launch an early morning attack on 17 February 1944 against Truk Lagoon. Operation Hailstone lasted for three days, as American carrier-based planes sank 12 smaller Japanese (light cruisers, destroyers, and auxiliaries) and 32 merchant ships, while destroying 275 aircraft, mainly on the ground. The consequences of the attack made "Truk lagoon the biggest graveyard of ships in the world".
The attacks for the most part ended Truk as a major threat to Allied operations in the central Pacific. The Japanese garrison on Eniwetok was denied any realistic hope of reinforcement and support during the invasion that began on 18 February, greatly assisting U.S. forces in their conquest of that island. Truk was isolated by Allied forces, as they continued their advance towards Japan by invading other Pacific islands, such as Guam, Saipan, Palau, and Iwo Jima. Truk was attacked again from 12 to 16 June 1945 by part of the British Pacific Fleet during Operation Inmate. Cut off, the Japanese forces on Truk and other central Pacific islands ran low on food and faced starvation before Japan surrendered in August 1945.Stewart, 1986
Chuuk International Airport (IATA airport code TKK) is on the administrative island of Weno. It is served by United Airlines.
The government operates a radio station. Interisland communication is often accomplished using citizens' band radio. Telephone services are limited on Chuuk, though a cellular network is established within some islands of the lagoon and in the near future on the outer islands. High speed Internet access via ADSL has been made available on a monthly subscription basis on the Island of Weno from May 2010.
Tourism, especially scuba diving among the many wrecks of Truk Lagoon, is the island's main industry. Copra (dried coconut meat) is the only cash crop, and output is relatively insignificant. Most of the inhabitants of outlying islands engage in subsistence activity only.
The coral encrusted wrecks attract a diverse array of marine life, including manta rays, turtles, sharks and corals. In 2007, 266 species of reef fish were recorded by an Earthwatch team, and in 2006 the rare coral Acropora pichoni was identified. Scientists Find Oil Leak Threatening Chuuk Lagoon Newswise, Retrieved on August 28, 2008.
On 12 April 2011, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Foreign Correspondent screened a report on Chuuk Lagoon likening the effect of the impending massive release of tens of thousands of tonnes of oil from the rusting Japanese warships into the coral reef to that of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. However, given the poor state of the Japanese war effort in 1944, many of the ships may have had relatively small amounts of fuel in their bunkers. Environmental protection organizations are surveying the wrecks while also consulting with Japanese researchers to try to determine how much oil is likely to be in the hulls, particularly in three sunken oil tankers. The ships are classified as a Japanese war grave, requiring Japanese government involvement in the eventual clean-up.
== Shipwreck gallery ==
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