Okikawa Maru Shipwreck

Description:

Okikawa is the largest shipwreck in the bay with a total length of 160m upon the laying of the keel. She was an oil tanker for the Japanese navy and would’ve housed enough fuel for an entire fleet of ships. She sits in 26m of water and comes up as shallow as 10m. She sits perfectly upright and is structurally sound until the bow which is blown to bits and its almost completely unrecognizable if it weren’t for the hull sitting in the sand with the bow facing the surface.

​Points of Interest:

Incredibly huge rudder and epic propeller shaft swim-through. The ship’s brig or jail cell, popular spot for photos and such. First deck level galley ways, long and wide corridors offer great swim throughs. Multiple in tact port holes along the port side of the vessel when coming from the boiler room. Multiple large groupers call this wreck home as well as a friendly turtle who appears from time to time.

​Cert level:

Open Water and up, has opportunities for good penetration and shallow technical inclinations.

​Trivia:

This was the only wreck in the bay that did not sink on Sept 24, 1944 with the others. She was bombed and damaged but remained with the stern on the bottom and the bow sticking out of the water until another fleet of bombers attacked the bow, sinking it to the bottom on Oct 9, 1944.

Type Description:

• 1TL-class Navy Auxilary Oiler
• Japanese “Tokusetsu Unso-Sen / Kyuyu Sen”
• Allied Type Designator: AO

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Particulars:

• Displacement: 10,043 gt
• Length over all: 160.51 m
• Draught: 9.18 m
• Max. speed: 18.5 kts
• Propulsion: 1 x 8,600 hp geared turbine
• Armament: 6 x 2-2.5 cm + 4 x 1-2.5 cm type 96

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Operator / Naval Division:

• Imperial Japanese Navy (Nihon Kaigun)
• Combined Fleet

History:

• Keel laying 5 Mar 1943 at Kawasaki, Kobi
• Commissioned 31 Oct 1943
• Sunk 9 Oct 1944 by U.S. carrier-based aircraft

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Location:

• Coron Bay, Busuanga/Palawan (Philippines)
• Position (GPS): 12°01’10″N / 119°58’07″E