3 replies to this topic

[gregoryk]

Greetings,Does anyone know the capability of the Japanese anchorage at Truk for repair? Were ships required to head to Japan for very serious damage? I know that Pearl Harbor had its limitations, but I am interested in sources for the Japanese repair situation.Thanks,Gregory

[Stephen Taylor]

Off the top, I believe that there were no drydocks or floating drydocks present at Truk. They did have some kind of submarine support facilities, but I do not believe that Truk was capable of the kind of heavy repair work that Pearl Harbor was. Mind you, in both cases, severely damaged ships had to go back to homeland yards as the facilities there were much superior.Just a couple of observations.Steve Taylor

[Jim O'Neil]

Greg,From what little I can determine, the Japanese facilities in Truk were about what we had in Noumea in late '42 and early '43 AT BEST;They did not have the floating Dry Docks, but did seem to have repair ships and a heavy lift capability.Truk had supplies and a fine anchorage, but limited repair capability.

[Klebert Hall]

Yep, Truk had repair ships but no slipways / drydocks. They could do a fair bit of repair work on 'superficial' damage, but their ability to fix underwater damage or replace precision parts was extremely limited.Ships had to go back home for mechanical overhaul, too.-Kle.