Diving the Heian Maru

 

 

The Heian Maru was a sub tender, carrying munitions and spare parts to support the submaring fleet. According to Truk author Klaus Lindeman, the Heian is the largest shipwreck which is still within the lagoon.[1]

She went down on the leeward side of Dublon in about 110 feet of water. The wreck lies on her port beam, and the depth to her starboard side is about 50ft. An interesting feature is the coils of degaussing cable wrapped around the ship's waterline, a passive measure against magnetic mines.

 

 

The ship's name is still legible on the starboard bow, in roman letters as well as Japanese kanji text.

 


Here's how she looked in peacetime

This cluster of tube sponges live near the ship's rudder

 Click on the image to see an enlarged photo

 

 

 

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Note 1: the Heian displaced over 11,000 tons. However, the Tonan Maru no. 3 ended up on the bottom of Truk Lagoon and she was closer to 20,000 tons. The Tonan was salvaged, unfortunately. She would have been a heck of a dive.