Navy finds long-lost World War II submarine
photo © maritimequest.com
The US Navy says a wreck found at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand appears to be the long-lost submarine, the USS Lagarto.
A British diver, Jamie MacLeod, located the wreck in May 2005 in 225 feet of water. MacLeod said "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, Everything is still on it all the armaments, the brass navigation lights. It's beautiful."
Navy divers on Friday completed a six-day survey of the wreckage site. They took photos and video of the 311-foot, 9-inch submarine for further analysis by naval archeologists.
The divers found twin 5-inch gun mounts on the forward and rear parts of the ship -- a feature believed to be unique to the Lagarto.
They also saw the word "Manitowoc" displayed on the submarine's propeller, providing a connection to the Manitowoc, Wis., shipyard that built the Lagarto in the 1940s.
Eighty-six sailors died when the Lagarto sank in May 1945. The Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka reported dropping depth charges and sinking a U.S. sub in the area, though it was never known what ship it destroyed.
The Navy sent its divers to examine the ship to provide the sailors' families with some answers after a British professional shipwreck diver last year found what looked like the Lagarto, said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force.
When the Lagarto was lost in 1945 she took 86 men with her, they remain on Eternal patrol.
patch photo © bluejacket.com
wreck photo © thaiwreckdiver.com
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