When Ferdinand Magellan chose the name Oceano Pacifico for our ocean, it was his way of letting us know that it was a peaceful ocean. Indeed, navigators tell us that the sea along the equatorial line is calm. Some go as far as saying the sea is as smooth as glass. Beneath that glassy surface, however, is a maritime graveyard for casualties of the sea.

This comes as a surprise to many people in light of Apra's reputation as a harbor of refuge. But the harbor hasn't always been as deep as it is now in some areas and the wave barrier, with the unusual name, Glass breakwater, helps keep raging waves in check. The coral reef formations attest to hazards that confront those not familiar with the harbor.

A listing of some of the lost vessels provides us an interesting picture: the Spanish galleons, Santiago and Nuestra Senora de Concepcion; a French whaling ship: two German ships; several Japanese ships; and the U.S.S. Penguin, widely remembered now as the training ship for Chamorros entering the U.S. Navy, to serve as stewards, or men servants, for officers and their families, which is the only type of duty Chamorros were allowed to perform in the Navy before World War II. Additionally, the Harbor is the final resting place of dozens of planes, mostly Japanese, which were shot down by American fliers in the famous WW II battle known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot. As we all know so well, the cost in human lives and resources for the recapture of Guam in 1944 was very heavy, and, as usual, the Orote Peninsula played a major role. Forty six years earlier in 1898, the battle for Guam, which was never fought, ended when the Spanish guns failed to return fire from the U.S.S. Charleston. The capture of Guam was merely an additional duty for Captain Henry Glass, and his ships, which he dismissed with haste and without casualties. His primary mission was to join Commodore George Dewey at Manila Bay and did just that after capturing Guam. Names familiar to us were players in 1898 during the brief, but historically significant event, of the Spanish-American War. The Spanish delegation consisted of gentlemen named Gutierrez, Duarte and Portusach. The American naval captain was Henry Glass, for whom Glass Breakwater was named. His officers included a young junior grade lieutenant who was to return fourteen years later as Captain Robert E. Coontz to serve as Governor of Guam. The Coontz Building in pre-war Agana was named after him. It was the home of the original Bank of Guam. And that junction of Marine Drive and Route 6 in front of Adelup was named Coontz Junction in his honor although it is no longer known by that name today.

Two other names surface in discussions about Orote and Apra from a historical perspective. They are names of ships and not of sailors due to two extraordinary events that took place at Apra as a result of World War I and World War II. In 1917, the German ship Cormoran was in Apra Harbor for repairs when word was received that America had declared war on Germany. Rather than surrender, members of the crew scuttled the ship. They became prisoners of war, some of whom remained on Guam after World War I ended 27 years later, in 1944 during the Liberation of Guam, the Japanese freighter, Tokai Maru, was sunk by the Americans while trying to escape from Apra Harbor. Remnants of these two ships belonging to enemies of the U.S. at the time of their sinking, now rest at the bottom of Apra with their rusty remains touching each other! Finally, on names, these are some that we now accept as Chamorro names: Wusstig and Scharf. They are descendants of the crew of the Cormoran and other German sailors who were POW's on Guam in World War I.