WEST FAYOU ATOLL, Guam -- WEST FAYOU ATOLL, Guam – At 4 a.m. April 14 in the West Fayu Atoll, 350 nautical miles south of Guam, a small Japanese fishing vessel named the Shuho Maru Number 1 struck a reef and started taking on water. When her sister ship, the Houtoku Maru, lost radio communications, they contacted Sector Guam, the local Coast Guard unit, and requested assistance. The Coast Guard contacted the nearest vessel, the Federated States of Micronesia Ship (FSS Micronesia), which was 160 nautical miles away and could not reach the distressed Shuho Maru for eight to 10 hours.
In order to ascertain the status of the sinking ship and her crew, the Coast Guard contacted Andersen Air Force Base where a detachment of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 122, based at Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, as part of the Unit Deployment Program, were conducting operations.
The Marines of VMFA-122 eagerly offered their support and turned their attention to preparing two aircraft for a real world search and rescue mission. While the pilots were gathering as much information as possible, the Marines reconfigured the aircraft for the long transit and maximum loitering time required for the search and rescue mission.
The two aircraft launched at 11:20 a.m. and flew 400 nautical miles to the West Fayu Atoll. Upon arriving, Maj. Sean DeWolfe, of Daytona, Fla., dropped in altitude to investigate while the second F/A-18; piloted by 1stLt. Paul Holst, of Villa Roca, Ga., remained high overhead to relay information to the FSS Micronesia and the Coast Guard. As DeWolfe descended, he found the stricken vessel aground on the Eastern edge of the reef, 1.5 miles from the island in the center of the atoll. Spotting no one on the vessel or in the water, DeWolfe then flew over the island where he counted all seven crewmen. After loitering as long as their fuel supply permitted, the pilots relayed the status of the Shuho Maru to the FSS Micronesia and to Sector Guam prior to returning to Andersen AFB. During the night, the FSS Micronesia rescued the sailors and returned them to their sister ship.