Emily Chan
In 2021, seismic activity from an underwater volcano near Tokyo, Japan, caused two dozen “ghost ships” to rise from the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
The 24 ships washed up on the western side of the island of Iwo Jima, which is located roughly 760 miles south of Tokyo. The underwater volcano, Fukutoku-Okanoba, pushed them up, along with the seabed.
During the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, U.S. forces sank the ships. It was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, lasting for 36 days.
At that time, about 70,000 U.S. Marines fought against 20,000 Japanese soldiers hiding in bunkers on the island.
By the end of the furious battle, both sides suffered a devastating loss of life. A total of 20,000 marines were wounded, and 7,000 were killed.
Almost all the Japanese soldiers were killed in action. Only 216 survived because they were captured alive.
Per the U.S. National Archives, the shipwrecks are the remains of transport vessels captured by the U.S. Navy.
Since Iwo Jima had no port, the ships were sunk parallel to the shoreline, a strategy that helped shield weapons and troops from the ocean’s waves as they were unloaded onto the island.
The seismic activity produced by Fukutoku-Okanoba has led to the emergence of a small, crescent-shaped island in the sea. It was formed from volcanic ash and pumice.
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