The Kogyo Maru is quite an interesting wreck for many different reasons. We thought we had her layout firmly fixed in our heads and indeed we were easily able to find our way around the cargo holds when we dived her subsequent to our first couple of outings with Tan Tan back in January. However in July when he took us onto the wreck again we spent most of our time in and around the bridge and upper superstructure - which due to the fact that the Kogyo now lies on her side is not actually "upper superstructure" in real terms any longer! Problems of orientation aside we saw a whole new area on this dive.

The forward hold where most dives commence, contains what appears to be rolled up steel matting - imagine chain link fencing on a grand scale - however the matting has rusted so much over the years that it has created a rust exo-skeleton with a hollow core where the steel has oxidised away completely! Apparently this matting was rolled out onto the newly cleared and levelled jungle floor by Japanese sappers to form a hard surface for aeroplanes to take off and land. In addition to the steel matting in hold number 1, hold number 2 contains around 1000 bags of cement set solid by the water. There is also a large concrete mixer to be seen here and a bulldozer lying on it's side. So the two forward holds were carrying in effect the means to construct a complete aircraft runway! There are a total of SIX holds on the Kogyo Maru.

The Kogyo Maru was built in 1938 by Uraga Dock Co Ltd, Uraga, Japan for Okada Gumi KK. She is very big at 129 metres in length (425 feet), 18 metres wide and she weighed in at 6352 tons gross.  She was powered by two oil fuelled steam turbines geared to a single shaft. The engines were built by Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd, Tokyo. Her home port was Osaka. She lies on her starboard side now in 36 metres or so. Her uppermost (port) side is a shade over 20 metres deep. The dive is normally started on the stern-most "goal post mast" followed by a descent to, and a penetration of, the holds and then on through the engine room/boiler areas.  She sank on the 29th. September, 1944 during the American attacks to regain the Philippines from the Japanese.  The hull has an extensive coral covering which is home to many species of fish and the coral is so extensive that it is at times hard to see the metalwork beneath.

Whilst undoubtedly a great dive the Kogyo is not our personal favourite but still well worth a visit.