P34 was very active in the Guadalcanal campaign. According to Paul Dull in his Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy: 1941-1945, she made several runs down the Slot in the "Tokyo Express" that supplied troops and equipment to the Japanese garrison. She was also involved in the New Guinea operation during which the Japanese attempted to slow MacArthur's advance back to the Philippines.

The author checking out a ventilator shaft on Patrol Boat 34, ex Sutsuki.

P34 went down fighting, and spent 4.7 inch ammunition is scattered liberally around the site. The ship must have burned while she fought because some of the shell casings are split open, a characteristic of ammunition that has cooked off rather than having been fired normally. This is interesting since the P34 had been in a serious collision with the Kagero Class destroyer Yakaze in Kavieng, New Guinea, and was not seaworthy. P34 lost her entire bow in the incident and she was undergoing repairs to graft a temporary bow section on to make her seaworthy enough to return to Japan for permanent repairs. Therefore, during battle she was being utilized as a floating gun platform while riding her anchor, unable to maneuver.

Reports vary as to the details regarding the loss of P34. For example, two conflicting accounts place the ship as going down on July 3, 1944. One lists her as atatcked by aircraft, although no allied battle took place in Truk on that date. Another lists her as lost to the submarine, Sturgeon, but there are no reports[2] of allied subs entering the lagoon. The then uncharted waters of Truk Lagoon are virtually impossible to navigate by sub, so it's doubtful that Sturgeon claimed P34. It is much more likely that she was scuttled, since by July the possibility of her steaming back to the home islands was virtually zero.

Line drawing of Patrol Boat 36, Sutsuki is identical.

Drawing courtesy Allyn Nevitt, author of the IJN website.

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Note 1: Thanks to Dan E. Bailey and Klaus Lindeman, authors of WWII Shiwrecks of Kwajalein and Truk Lagoons and Hailstorm over Truk Lagoon, respectively, for their input on this site.

Note 2: Interestingly, there is a reference to the submarine Tinosa evading a bomb attack off Moen Island in the lagoon. If anyone can confirm this, please e-mail me.