When most people think of scuba diving, they usually envision colorful coral reefs, turtles and countless schools of fish. At Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia, however, the star attraction is not the abundance of life that exists beneath the waves, but rather the "ghost fleet" of Imperial Japanese vessels lying at the bottom of the ocean.
Widely hailed as one of the best wreck sites in the world, Chuuk Lagoon is home to dozens of military ships and aircraft that were sunk or shot out of the sky during "Operation Hailstone" in February 1944.
Called Truk Lagoon until 1990, the body of water is a popular destination for divers, the most intrepid of whom are likely to be aware of the ties the atoll forged with Japan in the late 19th and early 20th century. Located in the Central Pacific, the islands first welcomed Japanese sailors as early as 1875.