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War In The Pacific National Historical Park/Guam
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The most strategically important US possession in the Pacific, Guam played a dramatic role in the early moments of both World Wars. In 1917, the skipper of the German raider SMS Cormoran scuttled the ship in Apra Harbor the day the US entered the war rather that see it fall into enemy hands. In 1941, Japanese planes attacked the island within hours of the raid on Pearl Harbor. Guam surrendered two days later becoming the first US territory to be occupied by Japan. Today the island is dotted with extensive remnants of warfare, including the ships in Apra Harbor and relics from the 1944 reinvasion of the island by American forces.
The underwater cultural resources of War in the Pacific NHP are dramatic and unique. The invasion beaches of Asan and Agat are managed by the NPS and heavily used by the diving public. They contain well-preserved residues of the war effort that tie into the general interpretive theme of the park.
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| A well-known site, located just off the area known as Asan Cut and approximately 200 yards from the NPS visitor center is an amphibious tractor or LVT, located in 35 feet of water. Another site, reported by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One in 1978, was described as containing at least 64 tons of unexploded WWII Japanese and American ordnance. Although in poor condition, the ordnance sizes range form .30-caliber bullets to 500-pound bombs in a depth range of 30 to at least 130 feet. Some of this material is associated with phosphorous fusing and is therefore highly unstable if brought to the surface. Park visitors have been warned to stay clear of this area but it is still occasionally dived.
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SRC also conducted large projects in non-park areas in Guam including the Aratama Maru in Talofofof Bay and several wrecks in Apra Harbor. The most dramatic were the sites of the SMS Cormoran scuttled the day the US entered WWI in 1917 and Tokai Maru a Japanese armed transport that came to rest almost on top of the older ship durring WWII.
- April-May 1988 Major shipwreck survey project in Republic of Palau and Guam involving NPS, Palauan and US Navy Personnel. Daniel Lenihan was project director, Toni Carrell, assistant. As in the previous year, Commanders McCampbell and Orzech were principles representing the Navy.
- May-June 1987 research and historic preservation training for Micronesian State Historical Preservation Office on the Island of Guam. Project Seamark using Navy resources to document Aratama Maru in Talofofo Bay and sites in Apra Harbor and War in the Pacific National Historical Park. Dan Lenihan was Project Director. Primary Navy contacts were Commander David McCampbell and Commander James (Otto) Orzech. David Lotts represented the Territorial Government of Guam.
- March 1985 Assessment of the two invasion beaches and intensive two-week training course in submerged cultural resources inventory techniques to local divers. Directed by Toni Carrell, SRC Archeologist
- September 1983 War in the Pacific National Historical Park, Guam, shipwreck survey. Documentation of Japanese armed transports Tokai Maru and Kizugawa, sunk in 1942 and German light cruiser Cormoran sunk in 1917. Daniel Lenihan, Project Director.
- February 1981 Preliminary assessment of submerged sites and recommendations for further archeological survey. Dan Lenihan and Larry Murphy working with park staff, Superintendent Stell Newman and interpreter Jim Miculka.
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Reference:
- Carrell, Toni L., Editor, 1991, Submerged Cultural Resources Assessment of Micronesia. Submerged Resources Center Professional Report No. 10. National Park Service, Santa Fe, NM.
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Related Links
War In The Pacific National Historical Park
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