Paddling Lenger & Sapwtik

SwimmingSnorkelingKayaking / CanoeingMarine Reserve

As the closest lagoon islands to Kolonia and with the highest concentration of WWII historical sites anywhere around Pohnpei, Lenger and nearby Sapwtik make fantastic destinations for paddling enthusiasts. In addition to the attractions on each of the two islands, there are mangrove forests and some interesting reef environments to explore.

Around Lenger

Pahnaiau Getaway (Barbosa’s Wharf) to the Seaplane Ramp

This portion of the route is characterized by Lenger’s shallow fringe reef, a sandy, silty expanse dominated by small-scale coral growth, brilliant blue starfish, cowries, sea cucumbers of various types, and scattered beds of seagrass, which Pohnpeian’s call oaloahd. Keep an eye out for the main attraction: stingrays. They generally rest on the bottom in the sand and will shoot off when you approach. Not far beyond the wharf is the Jaluit Cistern, one of the oldest historical sites in Pohnpei State. The cistern was probably constructed in the late 1880s by German traders operating on the coast. A stone wharf originally connected it with the coast, but a few scattered stones are all that are left. Bullet holes in the masonry were caused by Allied strafing during WWII.

If you decide to make a wider arc around the island, you’ll pass over areas where the reef shelf ends and the deep part of the lagoon begins. Small sea turtles are seen on rare occasions near the reef wall. The majority of the reef fish will also be found at this natural boundary. Note, however, that the reef stretches all the way to Sapwtik in the northwest and there is no way around Lenger’s northern end without crossing it. The depth over the shelf varies from a few centimeters to a meter, depending on the time of day and the precise location. Because fragile corals and other organisms are harmed by feet or dragging keels, the northern passage should be attempted at high tide only.

The Seaplane Ramp to the Mangrove Passage

The reef on the eastern side of the island tends to be deeper than in the northwest and has denser beds of seagrass. Larger fish are found in this area, and sometimes juvenile black-tip reef sharks can be seen swishing their way around.

The Mangrove Passage to Barbosa’s Wharf

The tunnel-like mangrove passage winds about a third of a kilometer through a dense section of forest that mostly comprises members of the Rhizophora genus, identified by the arching prop roots that extend out of the water toward the tree trunks. It’s a nice, scenic paddle and a good place to spot shorebirds like the Pacific Reef Heron and Micronesian Kingfisher. Once out of the forest, you can follow the coastline past the ruins of the Japanese-era Kohatsu Wharf and back to Barbosa’s Wharf.

Around Sapwtik

A relatively well-preserved Japanese wharf extends southwest from Sapwtik’s coast all the way to the edge of the reef. This is a wonderful place for a picnic and swim or snorkel. There’s one large tree on the wharf, offering shade. To the west is a maze of mangrove clumps that are fun to paddle through (though they are not as extensive as Lenger’s) before reaching the western terminus of the island. North of the point is an exposed rocky place that’s a perfect pull-out spot for a snack. A little beyond that is the site of the coastal battery and nearby munitions magazine. Conditions north of Sapwtik’s coastline are very similar to Lenger’s northern sector — shallow and characterized by seagrass beds and silt. You shouldn’t try to kayak here except at mid to high tides. All along the coast, you’ll find evidence of Japanese occupation, low walls, foxholes, rifle pits, etc.

Starting   Ending Distance (km) Distance (mi)
St. Peter’s Church, Sokehs —- Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger 7.93 km 4.93 mi
Misko Beach, Dekehtik Island —- Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger 4.52 km 2.8 mi
Ice Dock, Kolonia Town —- Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger 3.53 km 2.2 mi
Nett Point, Nett —- Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger 1.97 km 1.22 mi
St. Peter’s Church, Sokehs —- Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik 7.75 km 4.81 mi
Misko Beach, Dekehtik Island —- Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik 4.34 km 2.7 mi
Ice Dock, Kolonia Town —- Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik 4.23 km 2.63 mi
Nett Point, Nett —- Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik 2.95 km 1.83 mi
Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger —- Japanese Seaplane Ramp, Lenger* 1.52 km 0.95 mi
Japanese Seaplane Ramp, Lenger —- Mangrove Passage Northern Entrance, Lenger 0.58 km 0.36 mi
Mangrove Passage Northern Entrance, Lenger —- Kohatsu Wharf, Lenger 0.42 km 0.26 mi
Kohatsu Wharf, Lenger —- Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger 0.51 km 0.32 mi
Pahnaiau Getaway, Lenger —- Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik 1.29 km 0.8 mi
Japanese Wharf, Sapwtik —- Gun Battery, Sapwtik 0.74 km 0.46 mi

*Shallow reef shelf. This segment is only passable at middle to high tides.

Map Guides >> Lenger & Sapwtik Islands >> Paddling Around Lenger & Sapwtik

Sapwtik Island

Sapwtik, which means “small land,” is a tiny volcanic island located directly north of Kolonia and 0.5 km northwest of Lenger. Seen in profile, the island resembles a large submarine, leading some locals to nickname it “Submarine Island.” Sapwtik is jointly-owned by the Eschiet family, which has some small houses at the eastern end of island, and their in-laws, the Adams family. During the 1880s, Sapwtik was purchased by Jan Stanisław Kubary, a Polish naturalist and ethnographer, along with a large piece of land east of what is now Kolonia — a place called Mpwoampw. In 1896, after returning from an extended absence and finding his homestead in ruins and his claims on the properties questioned by the Spanish authorities, Kubary committed suicide. Mpwoampw and Sapwtik were then purchased by Dominique Escheit, a Belgian trader who had operated in the Marshall Islands before coming to Pohnpei. Between 1914 and 1945, the Japanese were in charge and a great deal of land was seized by the military for defensive purposes — including Sapwtik. Like its neighbor, Lenger, Sapwtik was fortified in the late 1930s in preparation for an Allied invasion that never came. The primary features are found on the low hilltop and at the western terminus.

Sapwtik Island Attractions

Japanese Wharf

Visitors to Sapwtik will want to make their first stop at the Japanese Wharf, a 296 meter-long (324 yd) basalt structure that juts out from the island’s southwest coast all the way to the edge of the reef. With the exception of the very end, which has sustained some damage from waves, the wharf is in excellent condition almost 80 years after it was built — a testament to the quality of Japanese construction during the colonial period (and the use of the highly stable tanizumi, or herringbone, style of stonework). The wharf connects with the coastal road, also built by the Japanese, which skirts the mangroves from one end of the island to the other. The road is built above a stone retaining wall that stabilizes it against the swampy mangrove environment. Retaining walls also run along the opposite edge to prevent erosion from the steep hillside above.

Snorkeling & Swimming

All the ocean areas around Sapwtik belong to the Sapwtik Marine Protected Area, a sanctuary protected by legislation. The snorkeling off the reef walls at the end of the wharf is quite nice with generally good visibility and lots of fish. Just start at the wharf and follow the reef wall in either direction (the further from the island, the better it gets). The best place to swim is also right off the end of the wharf. Shallow areas on either sides of the wharf are silty.

A large banyan tree forms the flag of the submarine at Sapwtik Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Command Center & Barracks

The central hill is most easily accessed from the maintained Japanese coastal road. About 60 meters east of the wharf, hikers can cut off the road and up the slope (another 60 m) to reach the summit. The Adam’s family keeps the hill extremely tidy, cutting the grass, planting flowers, and keeping the historical features free of vines and brush. The place has a manicured, park-like feel and a stunning view of everything to the south. One of the best preserved yabane-tanizumi style rock walls on Pohnpei runs the length of the hilltop on the south side with two breaks, where earthen ramps lead up to the top. Two foundations were likely a command center and a barracks for personnel stationed on the island. The northern foundation is the largest and has seven sets of steps leading up to where the floor once was. The structure itself would have been wooden, while only the support posts and the lower parts of the walls were concrete. Two large concrete cisterns are connected to the two foundations (check out the bullet holes from Allied strafing). At the north end of the complex, the hill road begins, cutting right through the hill and running all the way to the gun batteries at the northwestern end of the island. Some of the road is currently impassable due to piles of felled trees and branches, but it’s impressive none the less.

To visit the gun batteries, it’s best to return to the coastal road and hike northwest all the way to the end. The road is well-kept and easy to follow.

Magazine Complex / Shell Storage

From the cut-off point for the hilltop, it’s about 150 m (164 yd) along the road to the first point of interest, a high-walled magazine complex for heavy ordnance similar to the one at the coastal gun battery on Lenger. The surrounding basalt rock wall (also tanizumi style) runs north and then curves sharply back to the south to enclose the foundation of the magazine structure, which is about 6 meters long. On the inside of the enclosure, the walls are steeply sloped. There is no roof, but the entire feature may have been covered with canvas and camouflaged during war-time. The entrance is narrow — less than 2 meters wide — and curved.

Coastal Gun Battery

About 12 meters northwest of the magazine is the first of four 75 mm field gun stations. These are similar to the structures on Lenger, though the Sapwtik sites are more primitive with less concrete and more earthen features. No guns remain, and two of the sites may have been decoys that never had guns installed. Guns would have protected the primary entrance to Kolonia at Pweitik Passage (Kepidauen Pweitik) to the northwest. A footpath continues north past the gun emplacements and then turns southeast to follow the contour of the hill. Along this are a few stone rifle pits or machine gun emplacements. Old Japanese beer bottles litter the forest.

NOTE: The ruins of a searchlight and a tunnel, cutting completely through part of the central hill, also exist on Sapwtik, but we did not have the opportunity to locate them during our brief period of fieldwork on the island. If you’re interested in seeing these features, contact Richie Adams at (+691.320.5735). The Pacific Wrecks website has photos of both.
  • To obtain permission to visit, call Richie Adams (Adam’s Brothers Corporation) at +691.320.5735 or call Ace Hardware’s office at +691.320.2723.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Sapwtik Island information would not exist without the cooperation of the Adams family.

Eco-Adventure Map Guides >> Lenger Island >> Sapwtik Island Attractions

Lenger Island GPS Data

Downloadable GPS Data Files

The following files contain all the packaged GPS data for the Lenger Island Eco-Adventure Map Guide, including the island’s coastline, ocean depth info, ten meter contour lines, mangrove forests, roads and trails, land divisions, World War II features, modern features, and other points of interest.

Three file types are provided. KMZ and KML files are compatible with Google Earth. KML is compatible with Google Maps. GPX files can be imported into ArcGIS (a professional mapping application) and some hand-held GPS devices.

NOTE: All files are free to the public and can be used for any purpose without permission.

Lenger Island (2016)

Coordinates

The following coordinates correspond with sites featured on the Lenger Island Eco-Adventure Map Guide. It is our dream to eventually create a Pohnpei GPS app that could be uploaded to smartphones and other devices, but for now, these points of interest can be entered manually in a hand-held GPS device as needed.

NOTE: All GPS devices have a margin of error. That margin increases with interference — when there is a thick canopy of trees, during bad weather, or when mountains obstruct the satellite link. The geosynchronous satellites employed when navigating on Pohnpei are located low on the southwestern horizon, such that maintaining a strong connection while hiking on the northeast side of a given mountain range can be difficult. Coordinates on the northeastern slopes of mountains are less accurate than in other locations.

Southwestern Lenger

Barbosa’s Wharf —- 6.993799° 158.228531°
Former Barbosa Resort Site —- 6.994306° 158.229159°
Japanese Coastal Warehouse Foundation —- 6.994406° 158.229708°
Japanese Underground Crude Oil Complex Trailhead —- 6.994717° 158.229517°
Gate 1 – Crude Oil Complex —- 6.995515° 158.230239°
Japanese Storage Caves Trailhead —- 6.993890° 158.230359°
Japanese Concrete Plant Trailhead —- 6.994275° 158.230646°
Japanese Concrete Plant Equipment —- 6.994502° 158.230447°
Ballast Hill —- 6.994418° 158.230380°
Japanese Cave 1 —- 6.994567° 158.231047°
Japanese Cave 2 —- 6.994792° 158.230931°
Japanese Cave 3 —- 6.994894° 158.230736°
Japanese Cave 4 —- 6.994950° 158.230661°
Japanese Above-Ground Oil Tank —- 6.993772° 158.230847°
Japanese Above-Ground Oil Tank Foundation —- 6.993894° 158.230716°
Path Intersection Point —- 6.993445° 158.230835°

Southern Lenger

Japanese Machine Parts —- 6.993100° 158.231317°
Japanese Square Cistern —- 6.993406° 158.231139°
Japanese Aviation Fuel Tank Trailhead —- 6.993896° 158.231492°
Japanese Aviation Fuel Tank Tunnel Gate —- 6.994211° 158.231342°
Japanese Rectangular Cistern —- 6.994006° 158.231840°
Japanese Machinery & Wheels —- 6.993628° 158.231561°

Eastern Lenger

Stream Crossing —- 6.995612° 158.232389°
Banyan Wheel —- 6.996089° 158.232106°
Dolen Lenger Trailhead (Eastern Route) —- 6.995896° 158.232360°

Northeastern Lenger

Japanese Seaplane Hangar Ruin —- 6.997648° 158.232069°
Compressor —- 6.997654° 158.232009°
Japanese Seaplane Strut —- 6.997610° 158.231969°
Japanese Seaplane Engine & Prop —- 6.997646° 158.231922°
Japanese Seaplane Carriers —- 6.997317° 158.231503°
Japanese Seaplane Ramp Trailhead —- 6.998005° 158.231864°
Japanese Seaplane Ramp —- 6.999088° 158.233040°

Northern Lenger

Well —- 6.998180° 158.231401°
Bomb Craters —- 6.998240° 158.230883°

Western Lenger

Japanese Coastal Barracks Site —- 6.996593° 158.228989°
Japanese Coastal Barracks Site —- 6.997418° 158.228861°
Dolen Lenger Trailhead Western Route A —- 6.997555° 158.229206°
Dolen Lenger Trailhead Western Route B —- 6.997874° 158.229242°

Central Lenger (Hill Area)

Intersection of Japanese Hill Roads —- 6.997592° 158.230367°
Tunnel Entrance —- 6.997431° 158.230122°
Japanese Dug-out 1 —- 6.997294° 158.230053°
Japanese Dug-out 2 —- 6.997325° 158.230153°
Japanese Gatepost —- 6.997197° 158.230789°
Dolen Lenger Japanese Cistern 1 —- 6.996967° 158.230894°
Cement Steps —- 6.996908° 158.230919°
Japanese Coastal Battery Trailhead —- 6.996659° 158.230743°
15-cm Gun Station 3 —- 6.996673° 158.230400°
15-cm Gun Station 4 —- 6.996549° 158.230341°
15-cm Gun 4 —- 6.996589° 158.230353°
Japanese Heavy Ordnance Magazine —- 6.996374° 158.230300°
Japanese Searchlight Drum —- 6.996547° 158.230692°
Searchlight Mount —- 6.996547° 158.230644°
Well —- 6.996164° 158.230914°
Small Japanese Gun Station —- 6.996278° 158.230736°
Japanese Anti-Aircraft Gun Station 1 —- 6.996000° 158.230706°
Cliff-Top Viewpoint —- 6.995681° 158.230625°
Japanese Anti-Aircraft Gun Station 2 —- 6.995547° 158.230878°
Cliff-top Viewpoint —- 6.995256° 158.231036°
Dolen Lenger Summit —- 6.995211° 158.231133°
Tunnel Entrance —- 6.996831° 158.230875°
Japanese Hillslope Barracks Foundations —- 6.996666° 158.231196°
Dolen Lenger Japanese Cistern —- 6.996650° 158.231408°
Japanese Diesel Engines —- 6.996544° 158.231369°
Japanese Catchments —- 6.996519° 158.231397°

Around Lenger Island

Mangrove Channel – North End —- 6.994655° 158.233077°
Mangrove Channel – South End —- 6.992055° 158.232919°
Kohatsu Wharf Ruin —- 6.991614° 158.232224°
Jaluit Cistern —- 6.994608° 158.227631°

Central Sapwtik

Sapwtik Island Japanese Wharf —- 7.002000° 158.223916°
Coastal Path Intersection Point —- 7.004462° 158.224978°
Ascent to Dolen Sapwtik —- 7.004270° 158.225460°
Japanese Hilltop Wall —- 7.004401° 158.225972°
Dolen Sapwtik Summit —- 7.004317° 158.226247°
Japanese Hilltop Foundation 1 —- 7.004372° 158.226264°
Japanese Hilltop Foundation 2 —- 7.004531° 158.226044°
Japanese Hilltop Foundation 3 —- 7.004643° 158.225894°
Great Banyan —- 7.004788° 158.225917°
Japanese Hilltop Cistern 1 —- 7.004421° 158.226434°
Japanese Hilltop Cistern 2 —- 7.004567° 158.226193°

Western Sapwtik

Japanese Heavy Ordnance Magazine —- 7.005594° 158.224468°
Japanese Coastal Gun Station 1 —- 7.005850° 158.224329°
Japanese Coastal Gun Station 2 —- 7.005976° 158.224384°
Japanese Coastal Gun Station 3 —- 7.006085° 158.224460°
Japanese Coastal Gun Station 4 —- 7.006203° 158.224497°

Northern Sapwtik

Japanese Hillside Rifle Pit —- 7.005679° 158.224880°

Downloads >> GPS Central >> Lenger Island GPS Data

Lenger WWII Historical Sites

Hiking / TrekkingWorld War II FortificationsArchaeology Site / RuinCave, Tunnel, or BunkerBird-Watching

Southwest Side

Descending a ladder into a subterranean oil tank on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Subterranean Crude Oil Facility (Pahnlenger)

Built beneath Dolen Lenger, the Japanese crude oil storage complex is without question the most impressive of the island’s historical sites. If tight spaces, heights, cobwebs, bats, or the dark make you nervous, this is where you should grab your flashlight and confront your phobias! You don’t want to miss this experience, but do take care where you put your feet and watch out for swiftlets darting about.

The facility is accessed through the first of a trio of steel gates that opens onto a wide rock tunnel lying parallel to the hillside (Gates 2 & 3 are blocked by mud and rock-fall). Steel ladders in alcoves opposite each of the gates run up the wall to concrete lofts from which Japanese personnel could inspect the massive oil tanks. Each tank is 40 meters long and 10 meters wide (131 x 33 ft) with an arched, riveted ceiling and an estimated capacity of 3,300 metric tons. From each loft a second ladder descends 10 meters (33 ft) through a hatch to the floor of the tank. Depending on recent rains, there may between 10 cm and a meter of standing water on the floor, but it’s usually possible to explore without getting too wet. Japanese graffiti on the wall of the first loft reads: “Push forward bravely and strive.” Records seem to indicate that only the third tank was operational. A large diesel engine in front of Tank 3 was probably used to pump the oil in and out. A pipe runs all the way to the coast.

One of four caves dynamited out by the Japanese on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Storage Caves (Pahnaiau)

The four caves carved into the slope of Dolen Lenger were probably intended for use as storage facilities (and also for defense as a last resort), but may not have been completed. Cave 1 is tiny (about 6 meters deep). The other three are grouped together 50 meters (164 ft) to the northwest. Cave 2 is 15 meters deep, 8.5 meters across (49 x 28 ft), and nearly as high with a wide entrance sloping steeply to a soggy floor. If you venture down, be careful of broken glass from bottles that might have been meant for Molotov cocktails (gasoline bombs). Cave 3 is slightly larger and deeper with several terraces. A line of rock-filled barrels at the mouth seems to have been added as protection against a land attack, and the third terrace may have been intended for a machine gun. Cave 4 is the largest with a depth of 28 meters. All of the caves are muddy, often have standing water on their floors, and are occupied by colonies of Caroline Islands swiftlets. The name of the area, Pahnaiau, means “under the banyan tree.”

Concrete Plant Equipment (Pahnaiau)

West of the main path to the caves is a ballast mound with a mango tree on top and a cluster of equipment used in the process of making cement: three concrete mixers, a large Yanmar diesel engine, and the 610 mm gauge rail lines that were used to transport dynamited rock from the cave sites along the hillside. A rock-crusher lies 23 meters (75 feet) southwest of the mixers.

South Side

Oil Tank Complex (Pahnkamal)

This large walled complex originally contained two steel tanks for the storage of crude oil, which was pumped in from the coast. The larger tank, with a 1000-liter capacity, was dismantled in the 1970s by a man who needed steel plates for his ship. He was in the process of taking apart the smaller one, when the government intervened. The existing tank can be entered where the lower panels have been removed. The roof is accessible via a ladder on the inside, leading to a manhole. A courtyard wall surrounds the entire facility (now being used by local residents as a pigpen) and concrete channels lead to a pair of rectangular cisterns (currently piled with coconut husks). Large bomb craters from the American bombardment are found on the northwest and south sides.

The gate and tunnel leading to an underground aviation fuel tank on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Aviation Fuel Reservoir Tunnel (Pahnkamal)

Northwest of the main path is a subterranean tank that supplied the seaplanes with aviation fuel. A steel door in the hillside opens on a tunnel about 8 meters long (typically flooded with about 20 cm of standing water and silty mud). At the end of the tunnel, the fuel pipes turn to the right and disappear into a concrete wall, behind which the reservoir lies. A ladder runs up to a secondary entrance hatch on the slope, but it is now rusted shut. The Japanese took fuel from this location by truck to the seaplane facility.

East Side

Cisterns & Machines(Nanpeilam)

Footpaths leading toward residences on the eastern coast pass a variety of rusting machine parts and two rectangular concrete cisterns. The southernmost cistern can be entered through a hole knocked in the south wall. A ladder also runs up to the roof.

The Banyan Wheel, a Japanese machine completely absorbed by a banyan on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

“The Banyan Wheel” (Dausong)

The most photogenic of the island’s attractions is not far from the main path on a terrace cut into the eastern slope of Dolen Lenger. There are several concrete foundations here and on one of them is an unidentified machine (perhaps an engine or rock-crusher) that has been completely absorbed by a huge banyan tree, such that the large machine wheel is permanently fixed on the outside of the tree with two roots growing right through the spokes. Take our word for it: it’s pretty darn cool.

Northeast Side

Seaplane Hangar & Aircraft Wreckage (Dietakai)

The hangar on the northeast side of the island once housed the “flying boats” that flew between Chuuk, Pohnpei, and the Marshall Islands and the Naval Type-O Observation seaplanes that were used for recon. Roof girders of a partially collapsed Japanese seaplane hangar on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)The structure sustained at least two direct hits from bombs, leaving massive craters at the front and on the southeast wall and possibly contributing to the eventual collapse of most of the braced girder roof in the 1980s (only the rear portion still stands). Near the northeast corner is a half-buried air compressor and just beyond this the engine cylinder of a destroyed aircraft, but the tangled girders make it difficult to move further inside from this direction. A careful search near the east side of the foundation should yield the wreckage of at least one plane (an Aichi E13A1 Jake), including the engine and propeller, portions of a wing, a pontoon, strut, and bits of bulkhead next to one of the carriers used to move the planes. The hangar can be much more easily entered at the rear, where the roof girders are still intact. A pair of carriers — on their way to being devoured by a ficus — were used to transport the seaplanes.

Seaplane Ramp & Apron (Dietakai)

The large seaplane ramp and apron dates to 1939 or shortly after and was constructed by a labor force consisting of Japanese, Korean, Pingelapese, Mwoakillese, and Pohnpeian workers. The structure lies on a reclaimed portion of the island and stretches northeast into the sea. The underwater section was made from concrete slabs poured elsewhere and lowered from barges, where they were assembled by divers. Stone seawalls around the perimeter were constructed in the highly stable yabane-tanizumi configuration. Written accounts left by local workers describe slave-labor conditions and harsh punishments for anyone who did not cooperate (one account says men were strung up to bake in the sun). A Pohnpeian marching dance (“Ke Dehr Lemeleme Me Se Ruksang Doadoahk en Kaigun”) composed during the event, commemorates the regular desertions of laborers.

Today, the cratered apron has been claimed by the forest and is difficult to even identify from the ground, but at the time of writing there was a clear path across it. The ramp was repaired by the Americans and used as the primary airstrip until the current airport on Dekehtik was completed. It remains mostly intact, though several structures in the area post-date the Japanese period (including an old hut for picnickers and the concrete tanks from a giant clam hatchery that operated in the 1990s).

Dolen Lenger

Japanese beer bottle, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Dug-Outs & Tunnels (Dolen Lenger)

The ascent of Dolen Lenger follows the northernmost of two Japanese roads that lead up the hill and eventually intersect. The lower part of the southern road is mostly blocked by trees and mud and is no longer a good way to access the hill, but you can explore the upper section, where several dug-outs cut into the slope on either side. Two of the entrances are connected by a short tunnel.

Gatepost & Barracks Foundations (Dolen Lenger)

A bit further up the northern path, hikers pass a gatepost (its twin has fallen down the hill), adorned with round, colorful river stones imported from Japan. Naval personnel gathered at this spot for their morning meeting. Not far ahead, the foundations of a barracks complex are found on a large terrace in the hillside. The area is littered with Japanese beer bottles, old diesel engines, steel water tanks, and rusting machine parts. A short tunnel worms into the slope to the left of where the path climbs a flight of concrete steps and continues up the hill.

The drum of a 110 cm Japanese searchlight on Lenger Island, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

Searchlight (Dolen Lenger)

The drum and turn-table of a 110 cm searchlight (probably a Navy Model 92) lie just off the right edge of the path. The light was originally mounted on the rock outcropping five meters (16 ft) west of the its current position and was used to identify targets at night. It was probably dismantled by American personnel after the war.

Small Gun Station (Dolen Lenger)

Further along, a deviation from the main path leads to an unknown battery, probably for a machine gun or small artillery, which was removed after the war. A short stone wall protects the site and contains two ammunition magazines.

Anti-Aircraft Gun Stations (Dolen Lenger)

Two anti-aircraft batteries crown the hill, one to the west and the other at the end of the main path. Both sites consist of concrete rings surrounded by stone and earth revetments and a number of ammunition magazines (nine at the first station and six at the second). Naval 8 cm Type 3 Dual-Purpose Guns were installed at these locations to protect the seaplane base and other important Lenger facilities. Unfortunately, both guns were removed after the war.

Dolen Lenger Summit Area

From the last anti-aircraft gun station, it’s possible to continue another 50 meters (164 ft) or so to the 77 meter summit of the hill (marked with a brass USGS benchmark) and pick your way to the cliff-top for expansive views of Kolonia and the northern lagoon. Bring a machete and take care at the edge of the precipice.

Coastal Battery & 15 cm Naval Gun (Dolen Lenger)

Just north of the searchlight, a branch in the path turns west and descends a series of muddy steps to the coastal batteries and their four naval gun stations. Records disagree as to whether guns were actually installed at all four of the stations or if one station at each battery was a decoy. The only gun remaining on Lenger — a 15 cm 40 caliber British Armstrong-Whitworth naval canon — lies on its side in the mud at the southernmost station not far from the pedestal mount. It was probably thrown there by the detonation of one of the many bombs dropped by Allied aircraft in 1944. The barrel and shield are separated from the jacket and recuperator and partly buried. Japanese records state that the 15 cm gun on Sokehs Mountain was originally installed at Lenger and moved during the war. Lenger’s guns were intended to prevent surface invasions from Pweitik Passage to the northwest and had a range of roughly 7 kilometers (4.3 mi).

Heavy Ordnance Magazine Foundation (Dolen Lenger)

Past the gun stations is the foundation of what was probably a magazine for heavy ordnance surrounded by impressive inclined blast walls of quarried basalt rock. As is true of the best examples of Japanese architecture on Pohnpei, the stones were laid in the alternating diagonal pattern called “herringbone style” (or yabane-tanizumi). The site was most definitely covered during the operational period and camouflaged to make it invisible from the air.

West Side

Coastal Barracks Foundations

The remains of two large barracks are found on the western coast of the island. Both of the structures were wooden pitched-roof buildings raised above the ground on concrete posts and reached by short flights of stairs. Each barracks housed as many as fifty men. Only the posts and stairs remain today. The southern foundation has a nahs built on top of it, which was part of one the island’s two “resorts” in the 1990s.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Lenger Island guide would not exist without the amazing work and cooperation of archaeologist Takuya Nagaoka, who was the first person to map the historical sites on Lenger. Nagaoka’s meticulous survey maps and exhaustive report (as yet, unpublished) were indispensable in the process of finding and interpreting neglected sites that had become heavily overgrown.

Eco-Adventure Map Guides >> Lenger Island >> Lenger Historical Sites

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