WWII Shipwrecks of Kwajalein Lagoon The photographs on this page
were captured from the video of the same name. This 42 minute
video features 13 of the shipwrecks that litter Kwajalein's
lagoon floor. Twelve of the wrecks are Japanese, mostly merchant
vessels. Japan occupied the Marshall Islands prior to WWII, and
Kwajalein was invaded and captured by US forces in 1944. Many
ships were sunk in the process. The thirteenth ship, and by far
the largest vessel sunk at Kwaj, is the German Heavy Cruiser
Prinz Eugen, an escort to the German Battleship Bismarck on her
famous breakout into the Atlantic that ended in the sinking of
both the Bismarck and the British Battleship Hood. Captured in
Europe at the end of WWII, the Eugen was brought to Bikini
Atoll, Marshall Islands, where she was part of the target fleet
anchored in Bikini Lagoon during two atomic bomb tests in 1946.
Brought to Kwajalein from Bikini after the tests, she developed
a leak that ultimately sank her. For more information on this
video, email email