At the end of WWII the Americans began to leave Vanuatu and their huge military installations in Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island. Soon it became apparent that shipping all of the equipment and supplies back to the States would be too expensive.
The solution was to dump jeeps, trucks, weapons, ammunitions and almost everything else into the ocean! The location became known as "Million Dollar Point" although I'm sure several millions of dollars of US equipment were discarded into the Sea.
Today one can easily go snorkeling and see the remnants of this waste.
Why these goods were not given to the people of Vanuatu, excluding the weapons and ammunition of course, escapes me.
Nearby is the site where the USS Calvin Coolidge sank after striking a "friendly" mine. Today it is considered one of the best wreck dives in the World. The Coolidge had been a luxury liner built during the 1930's and converted into a troop ship at the start of the war.
To his credit, the Captain of the Coolidge tried to beach the vessel and all but two persons were able to wade ashore. Two people did die, but hundreds of GIs got safely ashore before the Coolidge slid off the reef into deep water and sank.
There is a memorial nearby dedicated to the Captain of the USS Calvin Coolidge.
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