Shipwreck Breakwater

Northern Mariana Islands / Northern Islands / Settlement /
 shipwreck, reef, breakwater
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In the Spring of 1945, Navy Seabees (i.e. combat engineers) attempted to build an artificial harbor here at Beach Brown One and Beach White Two. They sunk about 23 captured Japanese transport ships and barges in the shallow water and then filled them up with concrete. This "protected" landing didn't seem to work very well, possibly because of the strong currents, and the project was abandoned. The "sunken ships" you see here are not the original steel hulls, which have long since rusted away. What remains is the concrete that was poured into the hulls.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwo_Jima
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Coordinates:   24°46'42"N   141°17'31"E
This article was last modified 14 years ago