HTMS Sattakut LCI 742 - Koh Tao - Update

Koh Tao's new wreck the HTMS Sattakut has settled just south of Hin Pee Wee at a depth of 32m according to local reports. A few dive schools have taken a look already and several videos are available on YouTube. Planet Scuba are taking a look later today with a few experienced staff.

We're not sure who owns this video so we cant give credit at the moment.

We received the following letter this morning from the 'Tao Tourism Association'. "As of June 18,2011, the Royal Naval vessel HMS Sattakut was sunk off sairee beach, south of dive site 'Hin Pee Wee' on Koh Tao. Unfortunately because of bad weather on the day the Sattakut was sunk and unfortunately rested on its side, rather than the desired upright position."

"Becaucse of this, agencies and staff involved with the project are currently working on revisions to have the vessel position changed to an upright position. Therefore we would kindly ask if any divers are planning to dive the Sattakut, they must be properly trained or be very experienced in this field of diving for their own safety. We would kindly ask all dive schools on the island for their cooperation with this matter in order to avoid accidents or even fatalities"

So we're not sure when this is likely to happen. Stay safe when you dive it :)

Koh Tao's New Wreck - The HTMS Sattakut - The History

Koh Tao will have a new wreck to scuba dive on from the 18th of June 2011. The former World War 2 landing craft will be sunk as an artificial reef on the west coast of Koh Tao. After years of campaigning to secure a vessel the Royal Thai Navy will sink the HTMS Sattakut LCI - 742 (formally the USS LCI - 739). Wild Planet and sister company Planet Scuba will be at the sinking ceremony just south of 'Hin Pee Wee' dive site.

The landing craft was built in 1943 by the 'Commercial Iron Works' in Portland, Oregon USA. She was launched on the 27th of February 1944 and commissioned the USS LCI (L) - 739 on the 6th of March 1944. The vessel was to be assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theatre of operations. It was exactly 6 months later when the LCI -739 saw action as part of the capture and occupation of the Southern Palau islands. The campaign was known as the 'Western Caroline islands' operation and lasted until October 14th 1944. She was re-classified as a 'Gunboat' on the 31st of December 1944 before seeing action again in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima. The Iwo Jima operation lasted from the 19th of February to the 3rd March 1945.

It wasn't long before the 'Sattakut' was in action again. Just 3 weeks later she was part of the 'Okinawa Gunto Operation' which lasted from the 26th of March to the 14th June 1945. During which time the vessel was again re-classified to a 'mortar' boat. At the close of the war the USS LCI (L) (G) (M) 739 received 3 battle stars for its service during the above campaigns. She was taken out of service with the US Navy in 1947. I will find out more about her service with the Royal Thai Navy and include it in the blog on Saturday.

If you want to be part of the sinking ceremony please contact Planet Scuba - Mae Haad - 077 456 110 before Friday the 17th June. 

Wild Planets' Operations Manager - Dave Milne

Continuing the theme of meet the staff.......

Dave Milne has been actively involved in the outdoor adventure industry since 1988 from mountaineering in England, Scotland, Wales and Greenland to canyoning, scuba diving and white water rafting in Australia.  He moved to Thailand in 1998 where he has been teaching scuba diving, as well as heading up outdoor adventure activity programs and IYA programs for International Schools in the region.  Dave is a PADI IDC Staff instructor, an SSI Master Instructor, an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, a BCU Level 3 Inland Kayak Coach, a Swift Water Rescue Technician and has a Bsc (hons) in Environmental Science.. 

Dave is Bangkok based where he lives with his wife Ai (also a qualified Scuba Instructor) and his son Joshua. When not in Asia he is a keen skier, and thinks that the only thing missing from Thailand is snowy peaks.

Discover Scuba Diving - Those first breaths

Discover Scuba diving is the first step on the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) ladder to becoming a Scuba Diver. Wild Planet staff member Varintorn a.k.a ‘Tarn’ took her first breaths underwater with Planet Scuba dive school on the southern island of Koh Tao. The weather conditions had been perfect for several days which meant water clarity was exceptional. In diving terms we say the ‘vis’ (visibility) was 25 meters.

After a short swim to the shallow waters of ‘Japanese Gardens’ Bay (ranked 74^th in the worlds best dive sites), we found a perfect patch of sand. Tarn had to learn and then demonstrate basic scuba diving skills such as clearing a mask and recovering a regulator while underwater. These are just a few of the skills students need to master before progressing on to the PADI Open Water course. However today was just about discovering scuba. After a demonstration from her instructor (Wild Planet’s Toby Bell) on how to control her buoyancy Tarn was soon gliding through the water with ease. With large schools of ‘Seargant Major’ and ‘Fuselier’ fish swimming around her, any anxiety of breathing underwater quickly faded.

After a surface interval (lunch break) on the boat Tarn was ready for a second dive. This time descending from the boats’ anchor line rather than swimming to the shallows. PADI standards don’t allow you to exceed 12 meters for this type of program but that didn’t affect the quality of the dive. Japanese Gardens is famed for its countless species of coral which are best observed at no deeper than 7 meters. With scattered patches of sand it was easy to just sit and observe the ‘Damsel’ fish defending their territories from the schools of grazing ‘Parrot’ fish consuming the algae from the reef.

Most participants of this program spend around 40 minutes underwater depending on their air consumption. Given Tarn’s calmness and small physique her air could have lasted for hours. As the saying goes ‘all good things must come to an end’ , and it was soon time to return to the surface. The happy expression on her face said more than a 1000 words. A future Open water diver for sure.