laststandonzombieisland

Attu Island in the windswept Western Aleutians, was, briefly, the frontline in the war in the Pacific.

Occupied by the forces of the Empire of Japan for 458 days (7 June 1942 to 8 September 1943) it was the first time a foreign power set up camp in the continental U.S. since the War of 1812.

Last month, a 10-day expedition on the dive ship Norseman II, led by East Carolina University, in conjunction with NOAA and the Aleutian Islands WWII National Monument, surveyed portions of Attu’s completely undocumented underwater battlefield.

They discovered and mapped the underwater graves of the 3,478-ton American cable ship SS Dellwood, which struck an underwater pinnacle on 19 July 1943 during the liberation of the island and sank in Massacre Bay off Attu, as well as two Japanese freighters, the 6,100-ton Kotohira Maru and 4,016-ton Cheribon Maru, which had been sunk by USAAF 11th Air Force B-24s on 6 January 1943 and by B-26s on Thanksgiving Day 1942, respectively.

Cheribon Maru, who took 21 of her crew and Army gunners with her, was found just over 1,000 feet from Attu’s shore, while Kotorhira Maru, which had gone down with 120 of her crew and embarked personnel, is about two miles off the island. They are considered the “only two Japanese military ships believed to be situated within U.S. state waters.”

“Overall, the project marks the beginning of what is sure to be an increased focus on the oft-forgotten Aleutian Island campaign and by extension Alaska’s World War II history,” said Dr. Jason Raupp, ECU assistant professor of history in the maritime studies program.