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Divers Discover WWII U.S. Sub in Gulf of Thailand
San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | July 1, 2005 | Ed Cropley

Posted on 07/01/2005 10:36:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway

BANGKOK – A team of deep-sea divers has discovered the wreck of a U.S. submarine sunk by a Japanese minelayer 60 years ago in the Gulf of Thailand during the closing stages of World War Two.

The U.S.S. Lagarto, a 1,500 ton 'Balao class' submarine, disappeared without trace on May 4, 1945 after attacking a Japanese tanker and destroyer convoy around 100 miles off the southeast coast of Thailand.

All 86 men on board are still listed as missing in action.

'We've always known that since the end of the War there's been a submarine missing around there,' said British wreck diver Jamie MacLeod, who discovered the 110 m (310-foot) submarine sitting in 70m (225 ft) of water in May.

'We went into all the war-time records, cross-referenced them with fishermen's marks and then searched with the sonar and it came up trumps – we found a bump on the bottom, went down the line and there it was,' MacLeod said.

The Pentagon has not yet confirmed the identity of the wreck, which remains the property of the U.S. Navy under international maritime law, although MacLeod says there is little doubt in his mind. 'It's a Balao class sub for sure because I've seen it and touched it and it's the only one lost in Thailand,' he said.

The Gulf of Thailand is the final resting place for many U.S. and Japanese ships and planes destroyed in the struggle for maritime supremacy in South East Asia and the South China Sea in World War Two.

Thailand's west coast is strewn with Japanese and British warships sunk while patrolling the Indian Ocean shoreline from ports in Burma, or Myanmar as it is now called, and Sri Lanka. MacLeod, who said he had also just discovered a Lockheed P38 Lightning – a high-altitude fighter dubbed the 'Forktailed Devil' by the German Luftwaffe – said the Lagarto appeared to be relatively undamaged.

'It looks to me like it's intact and it's sitting upright on the bottom in very clear water, so you can get a good idea of what it looks like,' he said. 'Everything is still on it – all the armaments, the brass navigation lights. It's beautiful.'

Having contacted relatives of the crew through the U.S. Submarines of WWII Veterans Association, MacLeod said he would be taking two Lagarto grandchildren to the site of the wreck later this month.

'It's nice because now the families are talking about closure,' MacLeod said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Japan; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: balao; japan; lagarto; shipwreck; thailand; wwii
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To: Squantos
You can google lots of articles on the extreme sport of free diving. This babe has done it down to 100 meters.

Cool Fin Tanya Streeter


21 posted on 07/01/2005 11:39:22 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee
"BTW, I saw a "sort of documentary" film about the deep divers, are are all certifiable. They shoot down a cable on a weigted sled, then free ascent back up. IN-SANE."

Tempting fate's "natural selection" is decidedly unclever.

22 posted on 07/01/2005 11:39:51 PM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: Southack
I'm just reading about it in googled articles. The record deep dive is over 500 feet. Fascinating reading. The Last Deep Dive Pipin Ferreras and his wife Audrey repeatedly challenged the deep blue deadly sea. Finally the sea won.(Attempt at 561 feet.)
23 posted on 07/01/2005 11:45:14 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: xlib; Larry Lucido
Recommended reading is the link above about this champion deep diver, and the sport.

The Last Deep Dive (Page 2)

Pipin's years of relentless training have resulted in extraordinary abilities. At peak performance his lungs can hold eight liters of air, twice the normal amount for a man his size. At the bottom of a descent his heart rate has been reduced to an unparalleled 8 beats per minute, though more commonly it drops to 20 to 30 beats per minute while diving. (The average human rate is about 65 beats per minute.) At rest he can hold his breath for nearly eight minutes. (Dolphins can do so for up to fifteen minutes.) Physicians and scientists have studied, tested, and probed him seeking to learn how he does this, and thus perhaps learn more about what the body is capable of achieving. To them he is a mystery. CBS, NBC, and the Discovery Channel have produced programs marveling at his accomplishments. In fact when Audrey Mestre first met him, she was a marine biology student specifically studying his body, the way an art history major might study Michelangelo's David.

Today's top divers have devised high-tech tools to take them as deep as possible as quickly as possible. At the extreme end of the sport, called no-limits free-diving, champions like Pipin and Audrey use a heavy "sled" guided by a weighted metal cable to rapidly descend to a desired depth. Then they inflate an air bag to shoot them back to the surface. Safety divers with scuba gear are positioned along the length of the cable in case of emergency. But the risks are still great. One constant danger is something known as shallow-water blackout, which occurs when oxygen starvation causes a sudden loss of consciousness during a diver's ascent.

That risk and many others are worth taking, divers say, because of the reward: the experience of a quiescence so euphoric it is hypnotic, even magical.

24 posted on 07/01/2005 11:48:17 PM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Travis McGee

First open water dive I made as a teen I left the water like that too after I saw my first cuda......not as pretty though...... later in life at JFK spec warfare under water ops course I made real sure all my "worn gear" was blackened.....shiny and bright was not gonna get me a tooth tattoo ! I played with some mixed gases as a civy yet only qualified for a basic dive bubble in the service.......We did most of our open water quals on blanket orders to Guymas and San Carlos in Mexico in the Sea of Cortez and off Patrick AFB beach or Eglin AFB. Did a couple at Mare Island ....


25 posted on 07/01/2005 11:50:56 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: nickcarraway

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea.

Welcome home Navy.


26 posted on 07/01/2005 11:52:27 PM PDT by BigCinBigD
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To: Tailback
Wouldn't it be possible for some of the crew to excape?

Too many unknowns. Plus, the Japanese weren't known for their kindness to surrendering enemy.

27 posted on 07/01/2005 11:54:11 PM PDT by fso301
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To: Squantos; wardaddy

I just read the entire "The Last Deep Dive" I linked above. Incredible!


28 posted on 07/02/2005 12:04:25 AM PDT by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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To: Mr. Silverback
"Thailand: It's not just for [insert horrific sexual crime description here] anymore!"

That's not fair. I've been to Thailand four times and did not have sex with anyone. Thailand is a wonderful place with mostly wonderful people. Sure, it's not perfect and there is a sex tourism industry. Many other places have such things too. Plenty of other people go there for purposes other than sex crime.

I've seen the same kind of stufr one sees in Patpong on 42nd Street in New York City not so many years ago.

29 posted on 07/02/2005 12:09:03 AM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Tailback; Mr. Silverback
I haven't done any diving for decades. I was originally certified in 1962 and don't recall any dive depths connected to the certification. I do remember warnings about dive times, etc after 3 or 4 atmospheres and that was entering the danger area.

I remember that I passed on a wreck dive off Catalina at 132 feet because I haden't been deeper than 80-90 feet yet. Do you guys remember the J-valve? (5 minute reserve @ 32 ft) I think that's the name.

Nam Vet

30 posted on 07/02/2005 12:26:52 AM PDT by Nam Vet (There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.)
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To: Tailback; Mr. Silverback
I haven't done any diving for decades. I was originally certified in 1962 and don't recall any dive depths connected to the certification. I do remember warnings about dive times, etc after 3 or 4 atmospheres and that was entering the danger area.

I remember that I passed on a wreck dive off Catalina at 132 feet because I haden't been deeper than 80-90 feet yet. Do you guys remember the J-valve? (5 minute reserve @ 32 ft) I think that's the name.

Nam Vet

31 posted on 07/02/2005 12:27:29 AM PDT by Nam Vet (There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.)
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To: Nam Vet
oops .... oops...Double-time

Sorry all

Nam Vet

32 posted on 07/02/2005 12:32:30 AM PDT by Nam Vet (There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.)
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To: Mr. Silverback
On second reading...225 feet is probably too deep for me. That's 95 feet beyond my certification limit, and 140 feet beyond my deepest dive logged thus far. Nitrogen narcosis is a bad, bad deal.

And top that with the trauma of sudden compression from the explosion. I don't think they had a chance. Prayers for their souls 60 years later.

I'm glad that some of the family members will now have some idea of what happened to their courageous loved ones.

This is a great post for this 4th Of July weekend. We should all remember those who gave all that we might enjoy this coming celebration. While our courts and government haven't been good custodians of freedom, our soldiers carry forth the tradition of tremendous bravery and honor that our forefathers would be proud of.

33 posted on 07/02/2005 2:48:23 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Democrats.. Socialists..Commies..Traitors...Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Mr. Silverback

Worse than death? 'Blow and go' will get you to fresh air without a 'rescue vessel'. The tables engraved in the escape hatches (used to) go to 450 feet.


34 posted on 07/02/2005 3:25:12 AM PDT by dhuffman@awod.com (The conspiracy of ignorance masquerades as common sense.)
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To: Onyxx

for later


35 posted on 07/02/2005 3:35:10 AM PDT by Unknown Freeper (Doing my part...)
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To: Nam Vet

Gad! I remember just enough from dive school to kill myself...

It is the same with my computer!


36 posted on 07/02/2005 3:35:42 AM PDT by sonofatpatcher2 (Texas, Love & a .45-- What more could you want, campers? };^)
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To: Caipirabob

You wrote; "While our courts and government haven't been good custodians of freedom, our soldiers carry forth the tradition of tremendous bravery and honor that our forefathers would be proud of."

So very true and well put.


37 posted on 07/02/2005 3:47:23 AM PDT by misanthrope (There's only one way Islam will ever become "The Religion of peace", it's up to us to help them out.)
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To: Lawgvr1955
New slogan for airlines offering nonstop service from Western countries to Thailand:

Confucius says: Man who walk naked sideways through airport door is going to Bangkok.

Confucius also say: Woman who fly plane upsidedown have crackup.

38 posted on 07/02/2005 4:48:17 AM PDT by mc5cents
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To: Tailback
225 feet is a lot of water to have on top of your head.

I dont know if this class of sub even had an escape chamber.

I dont think stankey hoods were in use at the time.

Even if they were in use, the "stankey hood" is pretty much just a feel good thing for congressmen and familys.
Its not likely to save your life at those depths

39 posted on 07/02/2005 5:41:03 AM PDT by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: Travis McGee

Thanks for the detailed description


40 posted on 07/02/2005 5:44:04 AM PDT by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)
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