Pohnpei · FM

Japanese WW2 Coastal Battery Gun

High on the north-south ridge of Sokehs Mountain—known locally as Pohndollap, "on the big hill"—a single weathered naval gun still points out toward the reef. Cast in Britain in 1905 and hauled up the slope by Japanese engineers in the run-up to World War II, the Coastal Battery Gun is one of the most evocative relics on Pohnpei, set in a buried rock-and-steel bunker and reached by a short walk along the old Japanese artillery road that overlooks the state capital, Kolonia. The gun was built to guard Palikir Pass, a principal channel through the barrier reef to the west, with a reach of about seven kilometres, yet Pohnpei was never invaded—Allied forces chose to bomb the island instead, and the battery probably saw little action. Today it survives in surprisingly good condition, surrounded by magazines, a camouflaged bunker and a trench system, making it a favourite stop for travellers who want history with their hike.