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.
Without knowing exactly what caused the Lagarto to sink, I can't give a 100 percent accurate opinion on this, but they probably didnt have much time to do alot. The Gulf of Thailand is really shallow. Shallow water amplifies depth charges, and makes the damage much worse to a submarine.
If they hit a mine, and it breached the pressure hull, it was probably all over in seconds. Sea pressure on the hull increases linearly with depth, and compounds flooding when a submarine is submerged. They would have had only a few seconds to escape, if even that, because a mine makes a pretty big hole in the hull.
Pressurizing a compartment with High pressure air would have bought more time, but as Travis mentioned, it probably would have been really hard on the crew-members doing it, if they even had the time to do it. In addition, it also would have made free-ascent impossible because the pressure in the compartment would have injured anyone trying to open a hatch facing outward.
They also could have been forced down until they suffocated, killed by poisonous Chlorine gas from a breached battery, suffocated by an onboard fire secondary to battle damage, or drowned by a breached hull valve that caused massive flooding. There are a million ways to die on a submarine. These are just a few
The Japanese also had a unique type of depth charge that consisted of a line, grapnel hook, and explosive device that traveled down the line to explode on contact with a submarine hull. Several boats described these in After action reports in this area of the world. it could be a candidate.
RE: #41
Great info, I've never heard of that Japanes anti-submarine mine before. Thanks
Lagarto (SS-371)
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08371.htm
http://www.csp.navy.mil/ww2boats/lagarto.htm
Yup. I made that 'dive' back in '61 during submarine school there.
You are very wrong about the value of the Stenke Hood. Dr. Stenke even tested it on himself from 750 feet! It creates an ever expanding bubble around your face to breath in during very long ascents to the surface.
That's a day in your life you're not likely to forget soon!
There are a lot of ways to die in a sub, not many are pleasant. But sometimes they did come to rest, mortally damaged, on the bottom. I'd rather take a chance with a Stenke Hood from 700 feet than die for sure in the sub.
Yup. The diving bell was quite an experience too. LOL
Went to 2nd Class Diving School - SRF - Subic in '66. Our qualification dive in SCUBA was 120' on a sunken LST. Visibility was unbelievable. It's really awesome to dive on a wreck and makes one wonder about the history of the ship.
The LST was sunk during WWII. The bow doors were open and the ramp down.
When we went to make our qual dive in Mark V, someone made an error on location and rather than diving to 120', the bottom came up and greeted us at 30'. Sunk up to my waist in mud and silt.
Been many, many years since I've put on my gear - should probably donate it to a museum. :)
I'll bet you could tell some more stories about Subic in 1966!!!
You an me both FRiend. Beats just sitting there waiting for your time to expire, dying from exposure and lack of oxygen.
Yep. Dr. Stenke doing it himself from 750 feet is good enough for me.
Right now I'm at the part of the book where they dive on the wreck for the second time, and lose the CBS propmaster from deep water blackout. But...if I discuss this further I'll use freepmail. The author seems compelled to through in extra flowery adjectives here and there in a way that's kind of jarring, but so far it's one of the best books about diving I've ever read, and I wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody else.
I recommend Submarine Commander highly, BTW. It doesn't read like a novel, but it is still a very interesting read by an authentic American hero.
Hey, just a joke. Thais are great, and I understand that seeing a Thai woman who isn't lovely is as rare as seeing a flying pig.
If a stricken WW2 sub could surface one last time, then some of the crew might have a chance to escape. However, they then had to worry about being shot by the enemy ships as they escaped, or being machine-gunned in the water. (BTW, the "sporting" brits had a habit of doing this to U-boat crews, so the Japs weren't the only bad guys) Plus, subs don't carry much in the way of life rafts, and floating in the ocean 100 miles from land doesn't give you much to be hopeful about. There are lots of reports of planes sinking subs and reporting "survivors in the water", but by the time surface ships arrived, they were gone.
It's a shame that the wrecks you can go to are probably all scavenged.
Where do you live? Just curious as to the type of diving you do.
Arioch7 out.
I was certified in Tawas City, MI, and my dives have been logged in Lakes Huron, Michigan, Champlain, and Placid, as well as the Au Sable River, a pristine quarry in upstate New York (with a bright orange Dodge Dart at the bottom) and several dives in Foote Dam Lake near Tawas. So far I've only dived three wrecks, all in Thunder Bay near Alpena Michigan. I also came across a ship's mast during a Champlain dive that turned out to be from HMS Preble, a British vessel taken as a prize during the Battle of Plattsburgh in the War of 1812.
Oh, and one other thing: I'll take those "picked-over" wrecks in the shallows (you'd be surprised how much is left on these vessels, especially in Michigan waters where they've got laws against artifact removal) over one of the deep wrecks any day. I'm not ruling them out, but I also am very wary of narcosis...the idea of not being in my right mind inside a wreck 200 feet down is way, way scary.
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