Truk Lagoon is a sheltered body of water almost fifty miles long by thirty miles wide surrounded by a protective reef. Northeast of Australia, it is located mid-ocean at 7 degrees North latitude. The area consists of 11 major islands, and many smaller ones within the lagoon and is known today as the Chuuk islands, part of the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. Originally part of the Spanish Empire, control was shifted to Germany after the Spanish-American War. It became a Japanese possession under a mandate from the League of Nations following Germany's defeat in World War I. A view of Chuuk Chuuk is an island group that comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ... The Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the First World War at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. ... Missing image Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

During World War II, Truk Lagoon served as the forward anchorage for the Japanese Imperial Fleet. The place 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 roads, trenches, bunkers and caves dug. 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. At anchor in the lagoon were the Japanese Navy’s giant battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, tankers, cargo ships, tugboats, gunboats, mine sweepers, landing craft, and submarines. This work is copyrighted. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Once the American forces captured the Marshall Islands, they used it as a base from which they launched an early morning attack on February 17, 1944 against the Japanese fleet in Truk Lagoon. Operation Hailstone lasted for three days with an American bombardment of the Japanese that resulted in the largest naval loss in history. Between then and the end of the War, more than 60 ships and 275 airplanes were sent to the bottom of the lagoon. Photo in the public domain - US National Archives photo # 80-G-227991 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Photo in the public domain - US National Archives photo # 80-G-227991 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Attack on Truk Conflict World War II, Pacific War Date 17 February 1944 – 18 February 1944 Place Truk, Caroline Islands Result Decisive American victory In World War II, Operation Hailstone was a massive naval air attack launched on 17 February and 18 February 1944 against the Japanese naval and air...

In 1969, the famous French oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau and his team explored Truk Lagoon. Following Cousteau’s 1971 television documentary about the lagoon and its ghostly remains, the place became a scuba diving paradise, drawing wreck diving enthusiasts from around the world to see its numerous and virtually intact sunken ships. Scattered mainly around the Dublon, Eten, Fefan and Uman islands within the Truk group, a number of the shipwrecks lie in crystal clear waters less than fifteen meters below the surface. In waters devoid of normal ocean currents, divers can easily swim across decks littered with gas masks and depth charges and below deck can be found numerous human remains. In the massive ship holds are row upon row of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, plus thousands of other weapons, spare parts, and other artifacts. Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910 - June 25, 1997) was a French naval officer, explorer and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. ... Early ideas of autonomous under-water systems appear in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Scuba Diving is the use of independent breathing equipment to stay underwater for long periods for recreational diving and professional diving. ... Wreck diving is a type of recreational diving where shipwrecks are explored. ...

Adapted from the article Lagoon Truk Lagoon (http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.phtml?title=Truk), from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. Wikinfo, formerly known as Internet-Encyclopedia (renamed in January 2004), is a fork of Wikipedia initiated by Fred Bauder in July 2003. ... GFDL redirects here. ...