Kinrei Maru

Southern Route

One of four Maru's sunk by USS Hammerhead. From the submarine's patrol report, we knew that this one had been hit hard by two torpedoes. The skipper said the explosion lit the inside of his conning tower like daylight, and he doubted there would be any survivors.

Sure enough, the Kinrei, a 2,800 ton tanker is reasonably intact at the  bow and stern, but amidships is a tangled mess of steel, so quite a challenging dive, definitely a trimix dive at 78m.Quite close to the USS Lagarto, and next door to the 'Canvas' wreck.

Image: A technical diver skirts the top of the wreck

Image: A telegraph recovered from the Kinrei Maru [for identification purposes]

Image: The technical diving team aboard MV Trident, after enjoying wreck dives on the Kinrei Maru