Truk Lagoon Area Study
Federated States of Micronesia and State of Truk. 1989. Truk Lagoon Area Study. National Park Service. Truk, Federated States of Micronesia
Examines the Truk Lagoon area of Guam, particularly is uses, tenure, tourism, features, listings, etc. The purpose of this study is to examine those areas nominated for national historic landmark designation -- i.e., judged to be of national significance -- within the two subthemes, United States' Central Pacific Drive and Japanese Expansion in the Pacific, and to determine whether any of these nationally significant areas and sites are feasible for inclusion within the national park system. The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) extend over a vast ocean area for more than 1,500 miles, taking in all of many archipelagos which comprise the Caroline Islands except for Palau. The nearly one thousand volcanic and coral islands, atolls, and reefs, however, comprise only about 435 square miles of land scattered over an ocean area encompassing well over one million square miles. The principal islands within Truk Lagoon -- Tol, Moen, Fefan, Udot, Uman, and Dublon -- plus several smaller islands and islets, are all enclosed by a great 140-mile long barrier reef, one of the largest and longest in the world. The barrier reef is a nearly circular ring of limestone rock, rubble, and sand -- the accumulated growth of corals, algae, and other limestone-forming organisms. The reef encloses a sapphire-blue lagoon covering more than 1,300 square miles. Within the lagoon are believed to be the wrecks of more than 50 Japanese ships of World War II vintage, nearly all of them sunk by U. S. Navy carrier aircraft during Operation Hailstone in February 1944.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Federated States of Micronesia; State of Truk
- Date of Issue
- 1989-07
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- HIST , WAPA
- Keywords
- Adaptive Uses of World War II Features, Algae, Barrier Reef, Compact of Free Association, Consultation and Coordination, Coral Reef, Cultural Resources, Dublon, ehistory, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fefan, Guam, History, Management concepts, Moen, National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places Listings, National Significance, Natural Values Associated with the World War II Wrecks, Operation Hailstone, Park Protection Alternatives, Shipwrecks, Tenure, Tol, Tourism, Truk Lagoon, Truk Lagoon Historical Park, Truk State, Udot, Uman, War in the Pacific National Historical Park, World War II