troyer Fujikawa Maru.
On 5 and 6 October 1943, the Fumitsuki was involved in the evacuation of Guadalcanal and got caught in a fight with US destroyers. Her group withdrew but the other ships in the Japanese fleet remained and lost. On 9 October 1943 while on her way to Rabaul and Kavieng (surely a hex destination for the Fumitsuki), she was damaged again by US planes. On 4 January 1944 the Fumitsuki was attacked by planes from the USS Bunker Hill and USS Monterey.
The Fumitsuki was definitely destined for disaster as on 31 January 1944 she was again attacked and damaged (at least the fourth time in 10 months) by Consolidated Vultee B-24 Liberator bombers while moored in Rabaul. This damage was severe but she was still able to proceed under her own power, as escort for a convoy, to Chuuk for repairs. The convoy arrived in Chuuk on 6 February 1944. Repairs apparently began almost immediately, with boilers, machinery and other items disassembled. Most ammunition was also removed. The Fumitsuki was anchored about half way between the northern points of Dublon and Fefan Islands, near the Kiyozumi Maru and Kansho Maru.
On the morning of 17 February 1944, the first photos taken during Operation Hailstone show the Fumitsuki lying as described in the preceding paragraph. After the first wave of American aircraft pummelled the Chuuk fleet, the Fumitsuki made urgent repairs to the one boiler and turbine available and made off to the north-west using one prop. At about 1030 hours she was attacked by planes and a near-miss fell adjacent to the port of the aft engine room. This apparently had a delay fuse and it exploded under the ship causing a deal of damage to the hull. The only fully assembled engine was now out of service.
The captain dropped anchor and the crew attempted to make urgent repairs to the leaking hull. A tug (or perhaps the destroyer IJN Matsukaze) came to try to move the Fumitsuki to Dublon but the ship was low in the water, her anchor still out (there was no power to pull it in) and the wind was against her. This was futile and the crew abandoned ship some time after midnight. At about 0530 hours on 18 February 1944, the Fumitsuki sank stern first. She was located to the north-west of Fefan Island and west of the southern end of Moen Island.
|Bruce Graham and the Fumitsuki starboard prop|
Photo by Kelly McFadyen
|The torpedo launcher of the Fumitsuki|
Photo by Kelly McFadyen
The wreck of the Fumitsuki was found in April 1987 by Tomoyuki Yoshimura and Blue Lagoon Dive Shop using Mr Yoshimura's research (war reports and talking to survivors, including the captain).
Today the wreck of the Fumitsuki lies on a sandy bottom at a maximum depth of 36 metres. The wreck is intact but is not really very large. As such, it does not sit high above the bottom. The wreck has a list of 15° or so to port. The superstructure is about 30 metres, the starboard side about 31 metres and the port side a bit deeper at 33 metres. Therefore, this wreck must be done as a first dive as there are no shallow bits.
The first thing you notice as you descend to the wreck is the compact size of the ship. It is narrow, very narrow (less than 10 metres). Starting at the stern, a description of the wreck is as follows. Of the two props, the starboard shows parts of all three blades and the port one only has one blade showing, the rest is buried in the sand. There is very obvious damage to the starboard side of the stern as well as the port side, although the reports state that the bomb near-miss was on the port side. Perhaps this damage is from the stern hitting the bottom when she sank. There is also a hole on the port side from the bomb explosion and damage across the deck. There are depth charges and launchers just back a bit from the stern.
In front of here there are two guns platforms. They originally were both mounted by guns but the rear-most one was removed, presumably in the refit. The remaining gun appears to be identical to the bow gun. In front of the platforms is where the second set of torpedo launchers was mounted. These were removed i