Page 374 - Micronesia
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Sightseeing & Historical Landmarks                                   Sightseeing & Historical Landmarks

    the inland advance. Two heav-     top of the complex are the re-     ill. A small park dedicated           including the unique site of
    ily camouflaged guns near the     cently dedicated Hall of Gover-    to Padre Don Jose Bernardo            the German SMS Cormoran II
    beach helped Japanese forces      nors and the Latte of Freedom.     Palomo y Torres, most often           and the Japanese Tokai Maru.
    subdue some approaching           The two structures, completed      referred to as Padre Palomo, is       The site is the only place in
    troops, although they were ulti-  in May 2010, offer a meeting       located next to the U.S. Naval        the world where two ships
    mately overcome. A pillbox still  venue and site for visitors.       Cemetery.                             from two different countries
    remains at the site, where the    Both are historically significant                                        and two different wars touch
    1st Provisional Marine Brigade,   and host a spectacular view of     SMS Cormoran Monument at              beneath the surface. The Ger-
    followed by the 305th Regimen-    the island’s coast.                U.S. Naval Cemetery                   man cruiser, scuttled by the
    tal Combat Team and the 77th                                         Now a favorite dive site in           ship’s captain in 1917, lies
    Army Infantry stormed the                                            Guam’s Apra Harbor, the Ger-          at 130 feet underwater, just
    shores.                                                              man cruiser SMS Cormoran              beneath the Tokai Maru, an
                                                                         II arrived on Guam in August          8,300-ton passenger-cargo
    Mount Alifan                                                         1914 requesting fuel. Then-           ship that sunk amid fierce
                                                                         Gov. William Maxwell refused          fighting in 1944.
    Home to bomb crater remains,                                         to comply with the cruiser’s
                                                                         request, forcing it into intern-      The harbor is also home to the
    this undeveloped unit is the                                         ment on Guam. The ship is             1,900-ton freighter Kitsugawa
                                                                         also said to have been the            Maru sunk in 1944, which sits
    former site of a WWII Japanese                                       site of the first shots fired         upright at 160 feet, and an
                                                                         by the U.S. military in WWI.          American Tanker.
    command post. Due to its                                             As German crews preparing
                                                                         to scuttle the ship worked            Apaca Point
    location, access is difficult for Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo       aboard, nearby U.S. Forces            In 1944, Apaca Point played a
                                                                         fired a shot over the bow. A          pivotal role to the American
    visitors.                         Complex                            monument dedicated to SMS             liberation of Guam. Located at
                                                                         Cormoran is located at U.S.           Agat Beach, this point offers
                                      The 20th Guam Legislature          Naval Cemetery.                       visitors an opportunity to
                                                                                                               view unique limestone forma-
    Fonte Plateau                     dedicated the Governor’s of-       Southern Guam                         tions along the shallow reef.
                                                                                                               In addition to the limestone,
50  Once a Japanese naval com-        fice and surrounding complex                            Apra Harbor      explore the labyrinth of tun-   51
                                                                                              Shipwrecks       nels and caves hastily exca-
    munications center located        at Adelup to the late Gov. Ri-                          Dive shops       vated in July 1944.
                                                                                              across the
    on Nimitz Hill, the site was      cardo Bordallo in 1997. He is                           island offer
                                                                                              numerous boat
    one of the more bitter battles    noted as one of Guam’s great                            dives each week
                                                                                              to Apra Harbor
    between the U.S. Marines and      leaders for having sound

    the Japanese. The unit was        business sense, vision for the

    later renamed Nimitz Hill,        island’s future and a love of

    after Admiral Chester Nimitz,     farming.

    who served as Commander in

    Chief for the Pacific Command               Padre Palo-

    (CINCPAC) headquarters.                     mo Park

                                                On December

                   Adelup                       11, 1859, Don

                   Point                        Jose Bernardo

                   South of                     Palomo y Tor-

                   Hagåtña,                     res became

                   Adelup Point the first Chamorro priest after

    is the government complex         being baptized more than 20

    where the Governor’s Office       years earlier by village par-

    and other government agencies ish priest Padre Don Ciriaco

    are located. There are meeting    del Espiritu Santo, who was

    rooms and a small display of      praised for ministry to numer-

    pre-contact artifacts. At the     ous natives even while falling
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