Capital of Chuuk Lagoon — the world's greatest WWII wreck dive site, where 60 Japanese ships lie in 40m of warm water
Weno (formerly Moen) is the administrative centre of Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia — an ordinary Pacific island town that happens to sit inside one of the most extraordinary dive environments on Earth. Chuuk Lagoon was the Imperial Japanese Navy's main Pacific base and the site of Operation Hailstone in February 1944, when American carrier aircraft sank approximately 60 Japanese ships and 250 aircraft over three days. The wrecks — battleships, freighters, aircraft carriers, submarines, Zero fighters on the lagoon floor — are now coral-encrusted ecosystems in warm, clear wa…
Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon, a vast enclosed atoll 62km across, was fortified by Japan from 1942 as its Combined Fleet's main operational base in the Central Pacific — the 'Gibraltar of the Pacific.' Operation Hailstone on 17–18 February 1944 was one of the most concentrated naval air attacks in history: 450 American aircraft from nine carriers struck continuously for 36 hours, sinking approximately 60 vessels and 250 aircraft. The attack effectively ended Chuuk's role as a strategic base. The wrecks settled in 10–60m of water in the warm lagoon, where coral and marine life have transformed them into…