The Akabasas Maru

[Comfortable Man]

I was a professional diver and underwater photographer during my young life. I am now retired and don't actually DO much anymore but I do have a story that folks on this site might find interesting. In 1972 I was part of a film crew for a documentary diving movie called "Deadly Fathoms" filming the shipwrecks that were left over from the various A and H bomb tests in and around the area of Bikini Atoll and the Marshall Islands.

We also dove on various left over wrecks from WWII that were in other places throughout the Marshalls.

The Akabasas Maru was a Japanese troop ship that was involved in one of the United States' own war atrocities during that time in 1944. A full regiment of Japanese soldiers were on the island of Wotje and were completely surrounded by Allied warships and unable to leave or get food delivered. The Japanese government asked the American government if they could send a troop ship in to take the soldiers out. The soldiers would leave all weapons and war material would also be left including the uniform helms and anything else that could be used to make war. The American government agreed to allow the troop ship Akabasas Maru to come in to Wotje and take the soldiers off.

They went in, loaded all the soldiers and officers onboard and started out to sea. They got about 500 yards out when the American warships opened fire on the troopship and sank it with all hands right on the spot. The American reason for not keeping to their sworn promise to allow them to leave was .... They will just go back to Japan and get more weapons and be right back out here killing us as soon as possible.

I'm an American, I'm ashamed of the men that decided to do that in that manner. If they were going to kill everyone, they shouldn't have agreed not to. They could have starved them out without breaking any rules of war.

Anyway, that's how the Akabasas Maru came to be a wreck off the island of Wotje in the Marshalls.

We showed up as a filming crew 28 years later and dove on the wreck. It was different than any wreck I've ever dove on. 28 years later and there were still evidences of human loss onboard. Broken skulls, and lots and lots of porcelain dinnerware. We, as an independent film crew with no government agents on board, took nearly every piece of porcelain on board. Sake cups, rice bowls, serving trays, a huge sake bottle that probably held up to 10 gallons of sake at once and anything else that wasn't bolted on so well that it couldn't be pried loose.

When we got all our "swag" (swag is the name for stolen goods, started in the pirate days) back to Majuro, the capitol of the Marshall Islands, one of our braggy crew mentioned to an Islander that we had all this stuff and the Trust Territory of the Pacific officials came and took nearly all of it from us.
Today, in Majuro, there is a museum of WWII mementos for all to see. Including all of the dinnerware etc. from the Akabasas Maru. Almost all anyway... A few of us hid some small pieces in our dirty underwear in our suitcases. LOL

I thought young folks might like to read this story of their ancestors. By the way, one of our film crew was Japanese, named Calvin Hawashii, who was along on the trip specifically to dive on the Maru. A fine young man...Probably the same age as me now tho...lol

[Kara_Nari]

Great read thanks, wow, it sure would be fun to be an underwater photographer.
I see you're relatively new to the forum, welcome!
Keep up with the great stories

[Kinsao]

That is interesting. Ever since my younger days when I would go on holiday each year to a place that was good for diving, I have always been interested in it but never actually tried it myself! That trip sounds like great fun (not to mention fascinating!) as well as being rather poignant. Shame you got your stuff taken off you - still, I suppose a lot of people are getting the benefit of being able to see it in the museum.