Chilling underwater graveyard is hidden beneath luxurious green islands

Looking at the surface of Chuuk Lagoon, you would see just an idyllic and beautiful landscape.

At first glance, the network of channels between islets in Micronesia seems like a paradise on Earth.

But beneath the surface there's a sinister secret lurking at the bottom of the sea.

That's because Chuuk Lagoon is the home to an enormous underwater graveyard.

Not only that, but there is so much paraphernalia from one period in history that it's almost like a submerged snapshot of that time period.

And that period was, sadly, the 1940s.

At that time the area was under the control of Imperial Japan following a mandate from the League of Nations at the end of World War I.

But when the US entered World War II in 1941, its location - once known as Truk Lagoon - would have been on the front lines of the Pacific Theatre.

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In February 1944, the United States carried out a huge operation on the area.

This was Operation Hailstone, an attack which saw around 4,500 Japanese soldiers killed and many warships and planes lost over the course of the two day assault.

The wrecks of those ships and planes, mostly Japanese but some American, are still sitting at the bottom of the sea, along with many personal items and keepsakes that offer a glimpse in the lives of the people who had been there.

Among the items is even a china set which somehow survived the bombs and came to rest on the bottom, perfectly preserved.

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There are also personal items, such as framed photographs which have somehow survived the ravages of time and the ocean.

These are joined by slowly rusting cars and food containers, and even a diving suit from the 1940s, though it's probably not in working condition anymore.

Of course, the lagoon is also the final resting place of the people who died in the attack, and their bones are still there to this day.

Despite its grisly secret, the site is hugely popular with scuba divers, who flock to explore the wrecks and see the many preserved artefacts which have been left there.

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Many people also travel to the location to pay their respects to the people who died there.

In the 1960s the site was also visited by celebrated French marine biologist Jacques Cousteau.

Speaking about the site, he said: “Truk Lagoon presents a mysterious planet of life and death. On the one hand, nature absorbs the artifacts of war. And on the other, she has preserved them.

"Only centuries from now, will every trace of man’s follies vanish from the bottom of Truk Lagoon.”