Diving the Coron Wrecks

The reason we sit around calculating dive plans, blending gasses and equipment checks is to get into the water and get wet. Fortunately for Australia, war has not touched us in the same way our neighbours to the north have suffered; despite the best intentions of Emperor Hirohito, his band of generals leading his army of murderers, rapists and war criminals. Yes, Darwin was attacked in February 1942 and other occasions, parts of Western Australia were also bombed, Sydney had midget submarine attacks but we were never occupied in the same way that Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and many other countries of the region had to endure.

The early success of the Imperial Japanese military allowed the Japanese combined forces to sweep down and occupy all before them. When Singapore was lost; Australia was in a perilous predicament with arguments still raging whether Australia was next to be invaded or the Japanese forces were overstretched and will to advance no further and stabilise their gains. Years of determined fighting faced the allies; McArthur as supreme commander now based in Brisbane after being ejected from the Philippines. The US Navy under the leadership of admirals Halsey, Spruance & Nimitz led the charge for the allies in the Pacific theatre of war.

Australia played a critical part in the Pacific war with our soldiers fighting in the jungles of Borneo & Papua new Guinea to name just a few. McArthur and the US military was based in Brisbane during critical stages of the conflict and later returning to the Philippines for the final thrust on the Japanese home islands.

The Pacific war was to a large degree a naval war, which is fortunate for divers as we have the opportunity to dive some pretty cool wrecks. You certainly don’t have to be a technical diver to enjoy the Coron wrecks; however if you want the extended bottom times and wreck penetrations, an advanced nitrox & deco procedures qualification and wreck diving experience is required.

The Pacific war was predominately a naval exchange with aircraft carriers launching the attacks, battleships & cruisers protecting the fleet, providing naval gunfire and shore bombardment and destroyers protecting the fleet against submarine attack.

The Americans using the Yorktown and Essex class carriers launched the attack at the Battle of Midway decimating the Japanese fleet while mostly reserving the big 16" guns of the battleships mostly for shore bombardments. In a certain degree of irony, the Iowa class battleships were mothballed and recommissioned a number of times with their last action see during Gulf War I with shore bombardments and tomahawk missile launches. The greatest irony was reserved for the formal Japanese surrender signed on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo harbour.

The Japanese were losing territory as the war progressed; the Philippines were no longer secure although it would take some major battles for it to fall into allied hands. Starting in PNG and leapfrogging past whole islands isolating the Japanese forces defending them until the end of the war while the allied forces moved north towards Japan.

Task Force 38 lead by Admiral Halsey and Task Force 58 commanded by Spruance worked in tandem with one TF conducting operations while one TF was planning and preparing for the next operation. This also acted as a ploy to confuse the Japanese command, the TF were operating around the Philippines and later engaged the Japanese at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Usual enemy activity was detected in the North Palawan region around Coron Island, Tangat Island & Busuanga Islands from aerial reconnaissance from the 21st to the 24th of September 1944 and in true American military style – decided to bomb the crap out of them to be sure.

It is still debated whether radio transmissions were intercepted alerting the Americans to the presence of Japanese shipping in the area or the fact that the camouflaged ships had been noticed moving around tipping off aerial reconnaissance interpreters.

A number of ships that had been in Manila Bay area streamed to the islands to avoid damage were at sitting at anchor. Halsey and his task force east of Leyte launched the Helldiver bombers and Hellcat fighters equipped with wing tanks extending their range to attack the targets. Launched at dawn on the 24th of September, they flew completely across the Philippines and surprised the 15 ships in the bay and Coron Passage.

Using bombing and strafing tactics, they sent a number of ships to the bottom with these ships now laying in divable depths. While the Akitsushima is the only true military ship in the area, the refrigerator ship the Irako & fleet oiler the Okikawa Maru are military support ships with the remaining wrecks being freighters.

Akitsushima – A navy seaplane tender laying on its port side in 36 metres of water. The crane is intact making a great structure to dive along while then turning back to the main superstructure and flying boat mounts. The main deck is ripped open allowing a fantastic entry point to enter the hull with a number of passages to swim along and allowing access to the engine room. I would not recommend reels for this dive as it is possible to swim down the passages exiting at multiple points. Getting in and around the bridge is also good looking at the AA gun (hard to picture though) and moving forward to the bow. It is a great view to see the point of the bow cutting through the water on a horizontal plane instead of a vertical plane. Returning along the starboard hull at 22 metres shows holes ripped through the hull opening up like a can. The currents are strong here and deco can be taken on the mooring line towards the stern.

Irako – An armed refrigeration provision ship sits in 45 metres of water in an upright position. I prefer to dive on EAN32 as there is no need to head to the bottom and there is so much to see in the decks and holds. The fore and an aft mast where the mooring lines are attached are excellent starting points, the bridge is interesting as it is banged up pretty bad from the bombs. A good entry point into the hull is through the fore cargo hold door but beware, the silt is very fine so a reel and good quality reel is a must.

Okikawa Maru – Oil tanker resting upright in 26 metres of water and as I found out on my three dives on this wreck is usually in a ripping current. Entering the water near the bow the whole fore section is collapsed allowing the diver to swim straight into the hull. Getting back outside is a very interesting structure and due to the reasonable shallow depths a long dive is easily achievable.

Kogyo Maru – A 129 metre cargo vessel that was captured and used by the Japanese fleet, the exact origin is unknown and was more than likely constructed in Europe.

The Kogyo Maru lies in 36 metres of water on its starboard side with a cement mixer, bags of cement and a small bulldozer in one of its holds. The top of the wreck (port side) is in 22 metres of water with two moorings connected, one mounted forward and the other mounted aft.

There are a number of freighters laying both upright and on their sides as second dives and most are around the 30 metre mark making them great second dives. 

I love heading over to Coron to dive the wrecks, I have been three times so far and more trips are planned, the Akitsushima and Irako are my favourites with some really good penetration possiblities.