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WWII Remnants on Wotje: Part I

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We reluctantly leave the beautiful Maloelap atoll for a new adventure.  A short 84 miles north is the atoll called Wotje (pronounced whoat jay) which is known as the “Garden Atoll.” Wotje, like its neighbor Maloelap, was a major Japanese base during World War II. We look forward to continuing our search for these relics.

This fairly large atoll is home to the island chain high school called Northern Islands High School and the college which are attended by students from nearby atolls. It also has a small power station, managed by the Marshalls Energy Company so all of the homes are equipped with electricity. 

The local police station proudly displays several shell casings in front of their building. There are 4 policemen who work on this island, but they have no jail and rarely have any problems.

Wotje WWII History

Wotje military development began quietly in the 1930’s with a major airbase construction starting in 1939.  The war came swiftly on February 1, 1942 with two raids by the U.S. Carrier aircraft.  The air-raid totaled 23 aircraft with 58 bombs, leaving behind a deadly legacy of destruction.

However, by mid-1943 the Japanese had developed Wotje into a major base with the construction of 2-runways, hangers, repair facilities, barracks, and living quarters.  Defense weapons were installed around the island, a large dock with a crane and a seaplane dock were built, and two runways (3500′ and 5000′).  Wotje was given 13 vessels as a guard force and seaplanes made regular visits and reconnaissance missions. At peak strength in December 1943, the atoll consisted of 3,300 men: 2,103 Navy, 770 airmen, and 429 Army personnel.

The U.S. returned late in 1943 and destroyed all Japanese aviation here, sunk all ships in the harbor, and the atoll was left to starve.  The atoll was continually bombarded until 1945. By the end of the war, over 60% of the garrison had died leaving only 1,244 survivors.  Casualties occurred from air raids, diseases, accidents, and suicides, but mainly from starvation.

The local church has defense weapon on their grounds.  This gun was removed from the large, steel, cargo ship, the Toyotsu Maru that sunk at the neighboring island of Egmedoi. 

Wotje’s Deadly Weapons

The perimeter of the island, especially the ocean side, was full of guns, which were a mixture of British and Japanese manufacture: six coastal defense guns, and six twin-mount dual purpose guns. The Japanese Army had brought an additional five field artillery guns. In addition, two 120 mm ship guns were emplaced as coastal defense guns.  The top is an anti-aircraft gun and the bottom two are coastal defense guns.

This bad boy with 5 barrels lived on a family’s property, right next to their home!  I appreciate the historical value of these WWII remnants but I cannot imagine living next to this horrid reminder of the war.

We almost walked right by this cannon which is almost completely covered in vegetation.  We just happened to be walking back from a bunker and spied it in the trees. Look how huge the gun hole is compared to Matt’s hand!

It is amazing to see the condition of these deadly weapons.  They are still standing, pointing off into the horizon looking for the enemy.  Matt was able to put his entire head in the gun hole!

WWII Aircrafts

During the war two squadrons of planes were temporarily stationed here, namely torpedo bombers (“Kate” & “Val”) and patrol bombers (“Nell” & “Betty”). At the beginning of the war the plane contingent of the 801st squadron, consisted of between 6 and 12 Kawanishi H6K flying boats (“Mavis”), which were later replaced by the larger H8K flying boats (“Emily’). We were not able to find the sunken planes in the lagoon, but we did find this massive propeller, from a Betty Bomber, right outside the local bank and post office.   This came from an extremely large aircraft as it has 14 pistons!

Inland, we found this Betty Bomber graveyard with (3) engines and propellers.  These are simply massive.  Right next to the engines was a large cannon that was fully intact (lower right photo).

Toyotsu Maru Sunken Ship

The Toyostu Maru is a gunboat warship that measured over 305′ long, 45′ wise, and 26′ deep weighing in at almost 3,000 tons!  She had two masts, one of which still lays across the deteriorating steel.  She was struck on the port side which beached her, but then she was used as target practice for many months leaving her virtually unrecognizable. 

This should be spelled Toyotsu Maru.

This should be spelled Toyotsu Maru.

Today, at low tide you easily see huge sections of the once enormous boat.  You can see her anchor chain all piled up (bottom right photo), her mast sticking out like a cannon, the gooseneck of one of her booms and other assorted boat parts.

The anchor chain is visible from above the water and yet it still piles 2 meters high below the water as well.

We return on another day to snorkel the wreck at low tide.  Top left is the spreader of the aft mast which can be seen in the photo above.  We also find a portion of its massive anchor which was well over 2 meters long and several cleats.

The rudder and prop were still intact.  Each rudder blade was over 2m long. And the writing was still on one of the prop blades.

This shipwreck has become a very active and flourishing coral reef with dozens of schools of fish.  Coral is growing all over the ship and its parts making it a truly fun place to discover.

A Rare Memorial

So many soldiers were lost with the sinking of the Toyotsu Maru that the Japanese erected a war memorial in their honor.

This bereavement memorial is located on the southern end of the  Wotje island. The memorial describes the vessel and its losses.  There were two memorials right next to each other. One was still standing and intact.  However, the 2nd one has fallen over and lays on its side next to its podium.  Unfortunately the writing is incredibly faded making it impossible to translate.

The gun displayed by the main church was reportedly removed from the Toyotsu maru.  Not sure why they removed the gun and placed it next to the church but here she sits.

We found so many WWII remnants that we had to break it up into 2 blog posts. So, be sure to check in with us for part II of this post.

Some cool links on Wotje’s WWII history:

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred during the 2nd week of November 2024.  Be sure to see the true beauty of Maloelap in our last blog post “Maloelap’s Beautiful Motus.”

Maloelap’s Beautiful Motus

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Maloelap is known for its WWII artifacts but there is so much more to this beautiful atoll.  We discover several stunning motus including Enibin, Airik, and Bwokwankin.  

Enibin Island

We planned to stay on Taroa (the main island of Maloelap) longer than one day, but we had these weird westerly winds that forced us to leave.  We motor sailed across the lagoon (about 14nm) to the western most motu called Enibin.  There is no real “anchorage” and nobody living here.  Looks like a good spot to hang out for a day or two until the weather shifts.

We enjoy a beautiful and leisurely walk around the island which took us about an hour (2nm).  This was one of the rare opportunities where we could walk barefoot and or just in flip flops.  Usually we need true “shoes” to traverse over the coral and rocks.

The weather shifted south so we decided to head to the southern motu of Airik.

Airik Island

Airik island is located in the far south end of the Maloelap Atoll.  It has a few WWII artifacts as well (but not nearly as much as Taroa).  We anchored off the reef between Airik Island and Makar island. 

The image below shows Makar island and part of the reef that we are anchored in front of.  Makar is “uninhabited” but it does have one small “hut/house” which we believe is more of a weekend getaway than a residence. 

Airik has about 20 families living on the lagoon side.  Supposedly there is a small clinic and a school here but we did not adventure inland. It was strange because nobody came out of their homes to greet us so we couldn’t ask permission to walk around the village.  As we walked the 2 mile beach, one person was cleaning the stretch between his house and the beach  and said hello to us.  Totally different vibe than the previous Pacific island countries we have visited.

None the less, Airik is beautiful with a long beach dotted with beautiful palm trees.  We did come across this huge piece of metal (see Matt below).  We think it is part of the shipwreck “Danver”.

The Danver Shipwreck

The “Danver” shipwreck is a large iron hulled sailing vessel that is scattered across 30 square miles.  It is 29.5 meters long, with a 5.8 meter beam and sits “upright” in a max depth of 5.1m in the stern.

You can see part of its iron mast below.  Evidently the iron windlass, rudder, and anchor chain (still in the anchor locker) are still visible as well.  However, we went  to investigate at “low to mid-tide” and could not get close enough to the wreck to see it (too shallow).

The shipwreck has an unknown origin.  Some think it is a Spanish merchant ship circa WWII that the Japanese scuttled.  There is not much damage to the ship which leads historians to believe it was scuttled rather than sunk.  The chunks or piles of metal in the bottom photos are the remnants of the Danver Shipwreck.

Behind the Danver is another ship that is 32 meters long, sits upright, and is in 21 meters of water.  This ship can only be seen by diving (which we did not do).  Supposedly, this ship still has an anti-aircraft gun mounted on the bow and intact portholes with glass in them.  Would be cool to see.

There is also a Zero airplane (Mitsubishi A6M3 model 22A or zero) with one engine and bullet holes in the propeller somewhere out on the reef as well.  We did not find it.

We had a beautiful rainbow sunset on our last night.  It is so rare that we get to see the entire rainbow – such a special treat!

Bwokwankin Island

For such a funny name this is such a stunning motu.  There are 19 “adult” palm trees, dozens of teenager palms, and dozens of infant palms.  So, we call this palm tree island as it is easier to say than Bwokwankin.  This island is located on the east side of Maloelap.

During low tide, you can actually walk the entire sandbar as it stretches from Egeriben Island to Eien island. A long narrow stretch of beach!  The total walk being close to 4 miles each way!

We took “Sweetie” ashore and walked each direction over several days.  Super pretty with a slight breeze.  It was covered in rocks, coral, and pebbles – not the soft sand we had hoped for, but still beautiful.  I found a skeleton of a puffer fish and of course I cropped out all of the trash that lands on the windward side.  Lots of floats, shoes, and plastic bottles unfortunately (bottom left photo).

Walking in the other direction we circumnavigated two islands.  The lagoon side had a wee bit of shade, sandy, but no breeze.  The windward side had a nice breeze but you had to traverse over lots of rock, coral, and reef.  Always a trade off.

Lots of birds on this island and several crabs wanted to take us on but we refrained from starting a fight with them.

We really enjoyed our solitude in these three islands within Maloelap Atoll and are so grateful we had the weather to visit each of them.  But it was time to head back to the main island of Taroa to do our WWII remnant tour.

Taroa part II

We return to Taroa because we scheduled a tour of the WWII remnants on the island.  There are lots of pigs running around (along with cats, dogs, and chickens).  We enjoy some refreshing coconut milk and they tell us about their copra farming.

We mentioned earlier that the local policeman asked Matt to fix his outboard which he did.  Then people started coming out of the woodwork asking Matt to fix their generators.  At one point we had 2 on the boat and another 2 on shore waiting for him to repair.  Lucky for us he was 5 for 5 in the repairs.  We were rewarded with fresh caught lobster.  

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Maloelap during the the end of October 2024.  We discover tons of WWII remnants that we shared in two different blog posts.  Here is Part I and here is Part II.

Maloelap WWII Remnants Part I

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There are so many Japanese WWII buildings, artifacts, and debris that I had to break it up into two long blog posts.  Wow, this is so very interesting, educational, and heart wrenching all at the same time. Walking around the main island is like walking through a history book, with shells scattered on the ground and strafing on the cement walls of bunkers and generator buildings. Large guns are scattered around the perimeter on the beach and the reef.

The Japanese started construction of the Taroa massive airbase (the main island on Maloelap) in 1935, in secret.  This was in anticipation of the war and completely against The League of Nations (which they subsequently withdrew from).  America did not know the base existed until 1942!  There are over 350 buildings, wrecks, and sites on Taroa Island.

The U.S. decided that Taroa would not be invaded but would be neutralized by air and naval bombardment. Over 4300 tons of explosives were dropped on this little island lined with white beaches and towering palm trees.  The Japanese fought heroically to keep their airfield operational but it was too much and they were cut off from all of their supply ships. The plan was to slowly starve any resistance to a standstill and that is exactly what the U.S. did.

The Remains of the Destruction

We are anchored in an ideal spot behind a lovely reef with cool breezes.  We look over to the island of Taroa which looks like any typical island paradise but it is steeped in WWII history.  It is here on this tropical coral island, covered in palm trees, and surrounded by white sandy beaches where thousands of soldiers and locals died.  The ruins of this WWII legacy can still be explored today.

The 150+ locals living on the island have learned to live with the rotting buildings, planes, bunkers, ships, and weapons.    Whatever could be reused is adopted for a more peaceful purpose while the rest fades slowly away into the jungle overgrowth.

“L” Shaped Pier

The reversed “L” shaped pier built by the Japanese in the late 1930’s is still in use today despite it being decayed and decrepit. The pier was made of concrete reinforced with iron in the shape of a backwards “L”.  It was filled with sand and coral rubble to increase its operational use and extends 70 meters (230′) from the shore.

The locals use it for a small boat landing and fishing in spite of it being shattered by extensive bombing.

Communications Center

The Command and Radio C (also called Communication Center) is located just outside the main village.  It is really eerie as it’s two story building stands strong and proud having endured rounds and rounds of bombs.  The kids showing us around gleefully run inside to play.  As I follow behind them it is hard not to feel the shadows of the soldiers who walked the halls over 80 years ago.

I enter with trepidations, but soon get swept up in the impressive build of the building.  The doors have got to be 6-8″ of solid steel and the windows are at least .5 meters thick. However, you can still see evidence of the severe damage by the explosives despite the extraordinary build, 

 

Not sure it is safe to walk around here let alone have children playing here, but they do.

Coastal Defense Gun

Imagine driving your dinghy up to shore to greet the Mayor and the first thing you see is a massive sunken ship and a enormous coastal defense gun.  It is a little more than disturbing.  The long barrel of the coastal defense gun is still pointing across the empty horizon looking for its target.

This steel coastal gun is a Type 45 mounted on a gun base and facing north.  It has an elevation of +43° and has an indirect fire capability.  This gun originally sat on “shore” where they dug a pit, laid concrete as the base, then secured the gun.  As you can see, the shore has eroded and most of the base is submerged now.  The shore used to extend all the way out, past the gun to the other submerged iron mess that we could not identify (lower photo).

Anti-Aircraft Defense Gun

We find an intact Japanese Type 88 (1928) 75 mm anti aircraft gun  was mounted on a cement base and pointing aimlessly at the empty, beautiful blue sky. This was a standard anti aircraft weapon for the Japanese. The breechblock is a horizontal sliding, semi-automatic design which opens on recoil and closes upon insertion of a shell. The recoil system is hydropneumatic.

These two relics were found on the southern end of Taroa.

Landing Craft

Between the coastal defense gun and the “L” shaped pier is an old, rusted, Landing Craft (LC-1250) built in the 1950s.  This ship is 30 meters (100′) long still has most of its super structure.  The U.S. government gave this landing craft to RMI government to carry cargo between the atolls.  It was scuttled and left on this beautiful soft sandy beach in the 70’s.

Bunkers

Our tour guide, and the local Policeman, Arry Latty has one of the few intact and currently in use bunkers on his property.   He used to live inside the bunker jbut has since moved out to a neighboring home.  These structures were constructed to last centuries. 

Arry allowed us to go inside and explore one of the two bunkers.  They are short, but long, narrow spaces that could easily house over a dozen people on each side.  They are equipped with super thick windows and gun placement windows (for lack of better description).  Everything inside is rounded or beveled to reduce sharp edges and injury.  Arry mentioned that his village would use this  space in the event of a cyclone, so they are still protecting the locals today. 

We stumble across several other bunkers that are covered in vegetation and “not habitable” according to Arry.  The bunkers in the forest are camouflaged and covered which make them hard to see from the sky (and the ground) and keeps them cool inside (if you could get inside). 

Ammunition Depot

The ammunition depot is a massive concrete storeroom that used to store a significant amount of the explosives.  The exterior building is completely hidden in the jungle and covered by vegetation.  There are two sets of gargantuan steel doors which still move today — with a lot of effort.

You can still see the concrete entry where the trucks used to load and unload the ammunition.  Inside is a massive chamber with large concrete reinforced posts and enormous steel supports.  Many cement bags were left behind.  It is easy to imagine racks and racks of explosives carefully stored inside.

On the side of one of the walls is a gigantic hole where the ammunition depot was hit.  The cement and rebar forced inward from the massive blast.  It is actually surprising to see how well intact this building is considering it suffered from heavy bombing.

We found what we think is another ammunition depot deep on the other side of the island.  it has the same double steel doors and inside is a vast space supposed by concrete columns (top 3 photos).  We also stumbled on another building that had a round, steel piece on the ceiling/roof.  Clearly both were severely damaged. 

Come back for our next blog post where we share the remains of the hospital, pillboxes, an explosive shell, Zero airplanes and more.

I found a really great blog post that help confirm the type of artifacts we were looking at and viewing.  It is a cruiser who visited awhile ago, visit Nothing Unknown.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We did the WWII tour on Taroa, Maloelap in early November 2024.  Be sure to read about the WWII History in Maloelap found on our last blog post.