A CRM APPROACH IN INVESTIGATING THE SUBMERGED WORLD WAR II SITES IN CHUUK LAGOON

In February, 1944 Japan suffered its greatest monthly loss of merchant ships during World War II up to that time, at Truk Lagoon. The USA implemented an attack of the strategic base beginning on the 17th February 1944 neutralizing the five airfields contained in the base, destroying many land based military facilities and sinking over 50 ships. In 1969, Jacques Cousteau’s team was one of first to dive the shipwrecks, recovering many artefacts and alerting the diving fraternity to the value of the shipwrecks as diving destinations. Early the 1970s, divers found the only Japanese submarine lost at the base—with all hands—and which the Japanese government are keen to see left untouched as a war grave. Today the submerged military remains are a major tourist attraction for Chuuk and its major money earning in-dustry. This article provides historical and archaeological documentation on the nature of the ship and aircraft remains and considers some of the management issues that confront the sites and could lead to their demise. The article is part of a larger cultural resource management investigation into the submerged sites and an investigation of their social significance with emphasis on their value to the Chuukese community. During World War II, Chuuk1, or as it was known then Truk, was a strategic advance base for the Japanese supplying ships, aircraft, store