Drmike's Photos : Wreck diving : Malacca Straits Trip - March 06

Malacca Straits Trip - March 06 Galleries

IJN Haguro - Japanese Heavy Cruiser : Haguro was the last of the Myoko class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after a mountain in Yamagata Prefecture. She displaced 13,300 tons, was 201 metres long, and was capable of 36 knots (67 km/h). She carried one aircraft and her main armament was ten 8 inch (200 mm) guns. In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British Operation Dukedom and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Fotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze and began the attack. During the battle, the Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX Torpedoes. The Haguro soon began to slow down and took a 30-degrees list to port. At 0232 the Haguro began to go down bow first in the Malacca Strait, 55 miles off Penang, on 16 May 1945, Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors. Nine hundred men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Shiguira, perished with her. Rear Admiral Shiguira was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously in May 16.

This was our second visit since the wreck was discovered in 2003 by our capt http://www.combinedfleet.com/haguro_t.htm, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles. She lays in 68m of water usually subjected to strong currents and poor visibility.

IJN Haguro - Japanese Heavy Cruiser

Sun Vista Cruise Ship : On the afternoon of May 20, 1999 the Luxury Cruise Ship the Sun Vista was returning to Singapore after a typical cruise to Phuket, Thailand when a malfunction in the engine room switchboard started a small fire. Due to factors yet explained, the fire could not be contained and spread throughout the ship. A distress call was finally sent about 6:30 PM. Meanwhile, the passengers were instructed to go up on deck and prepare to abandon ship. All 472 passengers and 672 crew managed to leave the ship. The Sun Vista slowly sank deeper and deeper by the stern for seven hours. Finally at 1:22 AM May 21, 1999 she died and sank about 60 nautical miles south of Penang Island and 50 nautical miles west of Port Weld in the Strait of Malacca in 200 feet of water. A passing freighter finally rescued the passengers after spending five to eight hours in the lifeboats. There were no fatalities and only minor injuries.

http://www.sunvista.ukf.net/sunvista.htm

She now lays on her port side in the middle of a busy shipping lane in around 70m of water subjected to bad visibility and strong currents

Sun Vista Cruise Ship

IJN Kuma - Japanese Light cruiser : Kuma (球磨, 1919) was a light cruiser of Imperial Japanese Navy. Sunk by British submarine HMS Tally-Ho with a loss of 138 lives. She was found in 2004 by our Capt (http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/ijn/kuma.html)

She lies on her starboard side, in 46m/151ft of water approximately sixteen nautical miles west of the island of Penang, Malaysia.

IJN Kuma - Japanese Light cruiser

The Team and other stuff :

The Team and other stuff

U-IT23 - (ex Italian Submarine) : The Italian Sub Reginaldo Guiliano arrived in Singapore late in summer 1943 was captured by the Germans and renamed UIT23 . This craft manned by a crew of Germans and Italians was sunk in the Malacca Canal by the British submarine Tally Ho on 14 Feb 44 off Penang, Malaya.

She had been stripped of all fighting equipment and turned into a cargo sub by the Germans to secretly smuggle goods from Asia back to Germany. http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/articles/feature3.html

Her exact loctation uncharted we found her by sidescanning. She was found lying in 55m of water a long way from her approx reported position.

I suspect looking at the photos that as well as her fighting gear she was also stripped of all her deck and non essential fittings so as to increase her cargo load capacity.

U-IT23 - (ex Italian Submarine)

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