DJL Expo locates another WW2 Ship Wreck – Japanese Tanker Sunk in Shallow Water.
Our original plan for this mission (Monday 11th June) was to investigate the WW2 Tugs/barges mark, sunk by USS Bergal. However, conditions were great so we decided to push for a slightly more distant mark, further north up the mainland coast. Running the RIB from Koh Tao, this turns out to be a near 200 nautical mile round trip, so is only possible with excellent conditions – we decided to go for it.
The History
US Subs were prolific throughout the Gulf of Thailand, disrupting the enemies supply infrastructure by sinking many large marus and smaller coastal cargo vessels. The target for this mission was a Japanese Oil Tanker, around 800 tonnes.
Baleo Class sub USS Bumper, responsible for the sinking of this tanker.
On 17th July 1945, the tanker was moored way north of Chumphon, sheltered in a shallow bay. The best option for survival was to avoid detection, in this case the captain attempted to disguise the tankers sillhouete against the backdrop of the mainland. It didn’t work! US Baleo class submarine USS Bumper (SS 333) came upon the tanker on it’s mooring. From this point the outcome was obvious.
11th June 2007
For this mission we used the original war report, combined with information from some local fisherman.
Seven divers from DJL Diving formed the expedition team – Alex, Gary, William, Andy, Matthew & JP, with Tim driving. We reached the mark around midday, and with only a minimum of searching got the sonar return we were looking for.
The wreck lies in very shallow water – max 14 metres! The explosive damage is enormous – the whole wreck is twisted and mangled. Wave action and O2 content at shallow depth has also been unkind to the wreck, but we still got a fascinating dive.
The bow still stands upright, with a large winching system located a little further back. A portion of the superstructure is still standing (see photo) and we saw some of the walkways still intact. I measured the beam to be about 10 metres, total length about 45 metres. JP reported finding a large section of the hull seperated from the main section. The steel hull is rotting, with many holes that you can now peer inside.
Top left: Alex & Matt look through a porthole, in the remains of the superstructure
Top Right: A brass plate on the end of a pipe
Bottom: The remains of one of the walkways.
We’ll add some more photos in a few days, showing our journey out to the mark – refueling next to a fish processing boat, and what happens after you’ve travelled 200 miles on a rib!
If you want to dive this wreck, get on the Sampai Jumpa sailing liveaboard deperting June 18th. We’ll also get to check out WW2 marks for the tug and barges that we originally intended to investigate. After this liveaboard it’s likely we’ll have at least one more wreck to report. Contact us for more information.
