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When I was a much younger, I was a stationed in Guam. While there, I trained to become a PADI certified “divemaster” as a side job & for fun. There were a lot of Japanese tourists to the island and dive instructors could teach more of them at a time if they had a divemaster assist them. This involved taking first aid, rescue diver, etc. various courses so that I could be hired to supplement an instructor, or work on a commercial dive boat.
Two of more popular dive spots in the area of Guam are the harbor on the western side where Naval Base Guam is located, which includes a submarine base where you can actually hear the subs entering or leaving the harbor. This is located on Guam’s Orote Peninsula.
The first popular spot is inside Guam’s Apra Harbor. It features the only place in the world where you can dive on a wreck (with a single tank of air) which includes two boats, each from a different world war, and where you can actually touch both of these ships at the same time. This is known as the Tokai Maru. The second location is a blue hole to the south.
The Cormoran
The German SMS Cormoran (pic) was a “merchant raider” (formerly the Russian SS Ryazan) that had been originally captured by the Germans from the Russians southeast of the Korean peninsula by the light cruiser, the SMS Emden on August 4, 1914. It was the first prize of World War I from the Russian empire.
On August 10, 1914, the newly armed merchant raider the Cormoran II was sailing through the South Pacific, pursued by Japanese warships. By December 14, it pulled into Apra Harbor which is a U.S. territory. She only had 50 tons of coal remaining in her bunkers.
Due to strained relations with the United States and Germany, the governor of Guam refused to supply the Cormoran II with more than a token amount of coal. They also ordered the ship to leave within twenty-four hours, or submit to detention. This standoff would go on for two years.
At some point, Governor William John Maxwell was involuntarily placed on “the sick list” and replaced by his subordinate, William P. Cronan. Cronan was of a different mind and decided that the German crew should be treated as guests. So they were allowed ashore where they were treated as minor celebrities. The ship was still not allowed to leave.
On April 7, 1917 the U.S. Congress officially declared war on Germany. Rather is lose the ship to the United States, the German Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt decided to scuttled the ship where she was anchored. So while his crew was preparing to scuttle her, US Naval forces at Guam saw this which prompted them to fire a shot over the bow of the ship. Although it’s not officially mentioned, this was technically the “first shot” fired between the US and Germany during WWI.
The first casualties of between the US & Germany during WWI were nine crew members who perished during the sinking of the Cormoran II in Guam’s Apra Harbor. Ironically,they were buried at the US Naval cemetary in Agana. Americans rescued and aptured surviving Germans and congratulated them and their Captain for their bravery. They salvaged the bell from the ship and it’s currently located at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. The rest of the crew were sent state-side and eventually returned to Germany one year after WWI concluded.
I think it’s pretty cool that I was able to touch this piece of history. The 290-foot SMS Cormoran II rests 34 m (110 ft) below sea level on her port side (13°27′33″N 144°39′15″E). Towards the aft, resting against her screw sits the Tokai Maru.
The Tokai Maru
On May 15, 1930, the Osaka Shosen Company place a fast luxury freigher into service named the Tokai Maru, set to travel between Tokyo and New York, through the Panama Canal.
This is basically the same ship/class.
It was during July 1941 that the US closused of the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping in retaliation to Japan’s occupation of French Indochina. So on July 15th, she sets sail around the Magellan Strait back to Japan.
On October 12, 1941 the Tokai Maru is recommissioned/requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as a war-time transport freighter (called Ippan Choyosen). This were cargo ships that were not officially part of the Japanese navy, and were manned by civilian crew. She was to be used to transport material & personnel through out the Pacific, including Truk, Rota, the Marshall Islands, and even a stop at Fushiki, Toyama prefecture.
Then of course on December 7, 1941, “a date that will live in infamy,” Japan conducted a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the US into WW2. This occurred a few months after the Tokai Maru’s recommissioning/requisitioning by the IJN.
On January 24, 1943, the Tokai Maru was observed to be anchored in Apra Harbor by the Gato-class submarine, the USS Flying Fish (SS-229) who was on reconnaissance war time patrol in the Marianas. The Fish waited outside the harbor for 3 days assuming that the Tokai would soon depart. With no movement of the Tokai or any other ships, she fired two torpedeos set to run at 15' depth. One torpedo ran aground, but the other struck the Tokai causing considerable damage, but not sinking her.
As of August 1937, the USS Snapper (SS-185) had been commissioned and up until 6th war patrol, she had not scored a single kill. The Snapper was in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor occurred. It was during her 7th patrol near the vicinity of Guam, 7 months after the USS Flying Fish incident, that she spotted two vessels moored in the northeast corner of Guam’s Apra Harbor. One of the vessels was the Tokai Maru. The Captain then decided to patrol the harbor while submerged until the Japanese vessels departed the harbor.
After 7 days and waiting, the Captain must have grown impatient because the Snapper sailed to the north of the harbor where, on August 27, 1942 at 3:23pm, she fired three torpedoes at the first target, and one at the second. The Captain then ordered the sub to quickly depart the vicinity. One of the Snapper’s torpedoes struck the port side #3 cargo hold which contained truck frames, beds, scrap metal and misc. other objects. As the Snapper left, they could see one hit to the first target, sinking the 8,416 ton Tokai Maru almost directly over the Cormoran, sinking with her bow at an extreme up angle, and the stern (housing 4 plainly visible depth charges) on the bottom. This means that the Tokai came down directly on top of the Cormoran and rolled/slide over to the side as the bow eventually sank. This was the Snapper’s first kill. At the time, the Tokai Maru would have been armed with 2x12cm guns, 2xtwin 25mm & 2-single 25mm guns.
The Commander of the Snapper, M.K. Clementson noted in his submarine log:
"For the next 10-15 minutes heard some very faint distant explosions undoubtedly inside the harbor and one explosion about 100 yards away (from the submarine), probably from the patrol vessel. His screws were not heard after this so it is believed possible that this nicely in-efficient gent probably de-commissioned himself. Departed from the area at good speed, and depth, however."
This is the battle report:
The two ships together are situated (the Tokai Maru on top) like this:
This is what the look like today:
There’s more cool photos of what the dive looks like here.
The Blue Hole
But the really magical place is a bit to the south, known as a “blue hole.”
Guam’s blue hole is an extremely deep dive. You cannot actually go all the way to the bottom. And this dive required a dive computer. Many divers are subsequently treated at a pressurization chamber to reduce nitrogen narcosis, which occurs as result of poor dive management.
The blue hole dive starts around 60 ft where an opening starts. It comes out from between a minimum of 125 ft to 260 ft.
On my first dive to the blue hole, I went a little further than I should as we were exiting towards the wall. After a few seconds taking in the insane view, I actually remembering my lips getting numb. I looked at my guage: 130 ft. It really scared me, enough that I thought I would not be able to hold my regulator in my mouth, which prompted me to hold it with one hand.
This would be my deepest dive ever, I found my limit.
PADI recreational diving is defined as anything between 60 ft to a “deep drive” of 100 ft, which is the average depth at which nitrogen narcosis symptoms begin to appear. This is not the bends, but rather a reversible alteration of consciousness that occurs while diving at depth under high pressure. Technical diving considers a “deep dive” to be up to 200 ft. 130 ft is considered the absolute limit for recreational diving (by the RSTC), and I can see why. Anything beyond 130 ft is considered outside the scope of rec diving as narcosis and oxygen toxicity become critical factors.
I remember how the colors washed entirely out and the features become even more barre than I expected. It was an eerie feeling, even after having been accustomed to diving by that point (including many night dives). I couldn’t help but think about the trench really wasn’t that far away. And diving in this location, it’s not far from the harbor where I had previous dived. The drop off from the harbor is pretty significant. It’s a pretty humbling feeling to stare off into such a vast abyss, while also know that a massive trench is really not more than 60-80 kilometers away.
When my numbness started, I signaled my buddy & began ascending slowly while holding my regulator & remaining calm, all the while following my dive computer. The numbness stayed for a bit, then eventually went away. It’s one of those things you never forget. I had many other adventures with night diving, dolphins, sea turtles, manta/eagle rays, and sharks. But the blue hole dive was by far most memorable.
There’s no doubt that we’ve originated from the ocean. So, it’s pretty cool to have been able to have return to it, at least down to 130 feet. When I think about this, I always wonder at what depth life might have first started off at or where.
Video:
Guam's Blue Hole, pt1 (lots of great videos)
Guam's Blue Hole, pt2
Tokai Maru video
