Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks Hardcover – January 7, 2015

Loved that there was what thought was plenty of history and facts to keep it interesting but not too much. Well written and in an entertaining manner. Good discription of the wrecks. Definitely recommend this book!

I read the first section on Operation Hailstorm before our week-long trip to Truk Lagoon. At night we would read the history of the ships that we were to dive the next day.

Very useful reference......take with you if you are diving Truk

Lots of good info. Download it on your Kindle and read about the wrecks on the way to the dive site!

great history and doc on each vessel. Will be a good armchair book when I arrive there!

Nice easy read, very accurate description of the wreck.Worth the read.

Very interesting and well written book

After finishing this review, I noticed another posted on Amazon.co.uk which I duly read. Ordinarily I would ignore anything said by other reviewers - be they broadly in agreement with my own sentiments or not. On this occasion, however, the author (Rod Macdonald) had appended his own comments to that review in which he admitted to being in agreement with the criticisms made about the book’s artwork. Consequently, I made suitable amendments to the following.In the early hours of 17 February 1944 Operation Hailstone was launched. The immediate objective was to establish air superiority in and around Truk Lagoon by destroying Japanese airfields and aircraft. From 0440 hrs, fighters and fighter-bombers from 5 US Carriers continued to attack. Whereas surprise was complete, the Japanese Cruiser Katori, two Destroyers and the Akagi Maru escaped - although the latter was lost soon after. By 1800 hrs US Admiral Spruance had achieved total air superiority and, although he found the Japanese naval fleets absent, he was then able to concentrate on destroying whatever vessels were in the lagoon. Altogether 45 ships were sunk, a further 27 damaged, some 275 aircraft destroyed, 90% of the Japanese fuel supplies set on fire and both the submarine and seaplane pens put out of action. The Japanese death toll was never published but was said to be the worst-ever for a two day engagement. By comparison, the US lost 25 aircraft, 29 aircrew and 11 sailors. Another four Japanese ships were also sunk in later engagements and IJN submarine I-174 was sunk by depth charges. In brief, that is how one of the greatest fleets of sunken ships found anywhere in the world was created. The wrecks of Truk Lagoon (now called Chuuk) have continued to attract divers ever since the advent of scuba diving.As regular readers of my reviews will know, all good books about ships and shipwrecks are wholly dependent on the author’s ability to undertake and assimilate competent research. It is a time-consuming responsibility which few others are able to appreciate. There are no quick-fixes or short-cuts and one simply cannot get away with paraphrasing other works. Through a number of his books, Rod Macdonald has always impressed me as a writer who realty does understand this concept and, in this instance, has provided a more-than-adequate assessment of the events of 1944. Although I found nothing new, his approach is interesting, informative and reasonably complete. I did not like the way in which the book is divided into 4 sections - each of which commenced with its own Chapter 1. This was reinforced by the headings which are simply inconsistent - as follows; Book One; War, Book Two; The Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon, Japanese Aircraft Wrecks of Truk Lagoon and US Task Force 58 Strike Aircraft.One of the most outstanding features of Macdonald’s books has always been the artwork he employs. These paintings of wrecks are of a very high standard. As one who has also commissioned the finest possible artwork to support his own books, I know exactly what is involved in producing such impressions. In some instances, however, we learn from those aforementioned comments that the images produced show some of the wrecks - as they were before having collapsed.All diving books become out-dated sooner than their authors would care to admit and none more so than those which are dedicated to the fast-deteriorating remains of shipwrecks. Over time, I have studied a number of works on that intriguing piece of marine real-estate called Truk Lagoon (still the preferred name!) aimed at the scuba diver (including those by Dan Bailey, Klaus Lindemann (2 books - although he did insist on using Operation Hailstorm and not Hailstone!), Roy Smallpage and William H. Stewart) plus numerous historic accounts of the relevant wartime events.All things considered, therefore, I do believe this to be a fair and accurate assessment of the events which led to the provision of so many shipwrecks in a single location and of the various descriptions of each wreck. For those who are new to the subject, this book is a good place to learn of those events and of the individual ships now resting on the seabed. If the reader is able to overlook the fact that some (only some!) of the portraits of those wrecks are not as up-to-date (in terms of deterioration) as one is entitled to expect, it really is a very good book.NM

I work in Truk lagoon as a dive guide and the information in this book is the most up to date you will find. It's concise and well written, and serves as the perfect pre-dive information briefing. Highly recommend

Ähnlich (gute) Aufmachung wie die Werke von Dan Bailey über die versenkten Kriegs- und Handelsschiffe der japanischen Marine in der Truk (Chuuk) Lagune, allerdings in einem deutlich besser zu händelndem Buchformat.In englischer Sprache werden die Lebensläufe der Schiffe und die Aktionen die zu ihrem Untergang geführt haben vorgestellt. Anschließend erfolgt eine umfassende Beschreibung des aktuellen Zustandes des Schiffswracks mit Hinweisen auf besonders interessante Lokationen. Ergänzt werden die Informationen mit Fotos und Übersichtsbildern, die die Lektüre abrunden.

Sehr gut geschriebenes Buch. Hab es als Vorbereitung für meine Tauchreise gekauft u. konnte es auch sehr gut wieder als Nachbereitung gebrauchen. Wenn man die Beschreibungen der Wracks liest, hat man echt das Gefühl, mit dabei zu sein beim Tauchgang

This book was very interesting because I had just come back from holidays at truk

Gute Zusammenfassung mit allen notwendigen Daten, perfekt zur Vorbereitung einer Safari. Eine Ergänzung der Bewertung werde ich nach den Tauchgängen hier posten.