Dave Fortin's Rumored Wreck Page
Intro
On this page I will try to list what I know of wrecks that are rumored to be here in the lagoon. Some I believe surely exist. Others I have my doubts. My hope here is to spur enough interest and maybe we can get some folks out there to prove/disprove some of these wrecks. If you have a wreck to add or find one of these, I'd really like to hear from you! You'll find that many of these rumored ships come from John Broadwater. I think John was the only one to put rumored ships in his book. I think that was agreat idea!
Ebeye Water Barge
This wreck does indeed exist. This barge had been grounded on Big Bustard for some time. One evening, all conditions must have been just right and the wreck floated free from where it was grounded on Big Bustard and went drifting across the lagoon. My friend, Tim McLaughlin, was one of the people who watched this unfold. Tim was on the bench near the steps at North Point. He believes that when the ship finally sank it was between his position and the lighted tower on Carlos. I checked with the weather folks the next day and the winds were varying from 080-090 that evening. I believe this weck is probably NW of Bravo Buoy and I have been out once or twice with the fishfinder to search, but no luck as yet.
Barracuda Gunboat
Another rumored wreck form John Broadwater, but I believe that this wreck likely exists. In his book he lists two sets of directions to this wreck. One states it is "50 yards off the bow of Barracuda Junction", and also "several hundred feet off the bow of Barracuda Junction". In either case, I suspect this wreck exists.
WECo (Western Electric Company) Boat
Another wreck listed by Broadwater. It is said to be a 25-30 foot fiberglass boat that sunk while being towed from SAR pass to the Marina. It is estimated to be 1/2 mile from SAR pass. It sounds like they know this one went down, but no one has apparently found it.
N-North
This is another Broadwater rumor. It appears that John was looking for this wreck when he found "N-Buoy Wreck" (see wreck section), so I am not sure if he was successful in finding this or not. It is said to be in 110 feet of water and there is speculation that it might have been a sub chaser. Broadwater does report this to be 50 yards north of "N-Buoy", so it would seem reasonable that to have such a measurement that perhaps both had been found.
N-Buoy LCM #2
John Broadwater also lists this LCM and I am fairly certain that it must exist. Broadwater lists this one as resting on its side in 130 feet of water with a cable going over it. It is supposed to be north of "N-Buoy". I ASSUME that John is talking about the rumored "N-Buoy" wreck as he refers to the marker on the coral head as merely "N". In any case, this wreck should be relatively easy to find. The cable that runs over N-East goes off to the NNW and it would make sense to pass over the area where this wreck is rumored to be. I suspect one could go to N-East and follow the cable.
Rubble Wreck near Dai-San
This rumored wreck sticks in the back of my mind. I recall being told about someone trying to anchor on Dai-San and missing, but finding a rubble wreck. If this is true there is likely to be a rubble wreck in the general vacinity of Dai-San.
Mysterious Maru
Another rumored ship from Broadwater. This ship is said to have been found by the Kentron divers back in 1970. It is supposed to be on a line from the north end of Carlson to Big Bustard about a mile from Carlson Island. Those coordinates make me half-suspect this one might have some truth to it as it put it right on the edge of an area marked for underwater cables. It seems to be reasonable to expect that the Kentron (contractor on Kwaj at that time) might have had business inspecting/repairing a cable and perhaps they stumbled upon something one day.
SAR pass LCM
Another wreck reported by Broadwater. It is said to be 100 yards south of SAR pass on the edge of the reef.
Bomber
Another wreck reported by Broadwater. It is said to be on the reef approxiametly 1/3 of the way from SAR pass to Kwajalein.
OS2U Kingfisher #1
Dan Bailey reports that a Kingfisher went down 3,000 to 4,000 yards east of Carlson Island. Both Captain G.W. Tyson and Ensign W.J Savers were listed as lost. The folks at "MIA Hunters" looked into this a bit for me and they confirm that Tyson was listed as KIA on 2/1/1944. Savers was not found on the listing, so either we have the wrong name or he somehow survived the war. I believe that this plane is still out there and very likely has remains of at least one US crewman. However, the area where this is reported to have gone down is fairly large, deep and it is hard to find planes with fishfinders, so searching for this one becomes problematic.
OS2U Kingfisher #2
This is the other OS2U listed as missing by Bailey. This plane was reported as lost immediately west of Loi Island. It crashed with radioman 2nd class Harrison D. Miller and Lt. Forney O. Fuqua on board. Miller was rescued by the American minesweeper YMS 383, but Fuqua was apparently lost. Once again, the folks at "MIA Hunters" did some checking for me and Fuqua was reported lost on 1/31/1944. Again, I am fairly confident that this wreck is still out there waiting to be found and likely holds remains of Lt. Fuqua.
Omelek Wreck
Credit goes to Ron and Chris Gamble for telling me about this one. Somewhere along the bottom (70-90 feet) of the slope on the lagoon side of Omelek is a small boat. Scott Johnson was aware of the history, but its exact location was unknown. Apparently this boat (approx 19') was being scuttled by the Government and the plan was to scuttle it near shore so that somoene could easily salvage it. It appears that the boat slid down the slope before they could salvage it and no one apparently found it. Its' exact location is unknown. Perhaps I'll hitch a ride up there sometime and we'll take a look for it!
Bigej Fighter-Bomber (F6F)
This wreck was reported by Bailey. Apparently the combat reports list an F6F piloted by an Ensign Clem as attacking Bigej and emerging though the smoke with its tail missing and crashing in the lagoon. He goes on to mention the right wing missing. In either case, it would appear that this wreckage is probably in the lagoon not far from Bigej.
LCMs at Carlson Pier
More wrecks reported by Scott Johnson. What appear to be two LCMs are sunk near the pier at Carlson. Apparently they can be seen while flying over in the plane to/from Roi-Namur.
Another Carlson LCM
Scott Johnson tells me of yet another LCM off of Carlson. This one between the pier and the south end of the island. Apparently there is a section of coral that juts out into the lagoon. The wreck is up in shallow water in very poor condition.
Gugeegue Beached LCM
There's an LCM at the Gugeegue pier that is sunk in shallow water. This is not a dive site, but just a wreck up in the shallows.
Ebeye Beached LCM
There's an LCM at the Gugeegue pier that is sunk in shallow water. This is not a dive site, but just a wreck up in the shallows.
Ebeye pier LCM wreck
This is a recent wreck. Lost in late 2004, an LCM was sunk on the northwest end of the Ebeye pier. I am not aware of any attempt to salvage/remove the wreckage. If still there, it should be easy to mark!
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