Aikoku Maru

The Aikoku Maru was sunk on 16 FEB 44, after a torpedo set off munitions in the forward hold, resulting in the loss of most of the 945 men onboard as well as the TBM-3 Avenger which dropped the munition. The wreck is sitting upright in 210 ft (64m) of water with the upper deck at approx 125'. Most notable is the aft anti-aircraft gun, still facing up, but also the complete destruction of the ship forward of the bridge, it just does not exist, being vaporized in the munition explosion on 16 FEB. Although the Japanese recovered approximately 400 sets of remains, the rest are still entombed within the wreck. This was our first lengthy deep dive of the trip requiring almost an hour of decompression, and focusing mainly on the aft gun, and the heavily damaged forward areas.