|
Post by snake on Mar 6, 2016 8:44:10 GMT 8
US Navy LCM-3, (Landing Craft Mechanized, Mark III), 23 tons empty This wreck was discovered in the inner Subic Bay area. For the moment, the exact location is being withheld. 8,631 of these vessels, also known as “Mike Boats” or “M Boats”, were built between 1942 and 1945. They were used extensively during WWII in Europe, including the D-Day landings, and throughout the Pacific Theater. * Capable of carrying one 30 ton tank, 60 troops or 27,000 kg of cargo and a crew of four. * Length 15.2 meters, beam 4.3 meters and powered by twin Gray Marine 64H9N Detroit Diesel 6-71 engines. * Armament was two .50-cal M2 Browning machine guns. This wreck is a recent find by Sea Scan Survey and is thought to be previously unknown to local divers. The ramp is down, the engines are still in place and the resident fish life is very tame.
|
|
|
Post by Karl Welteke on Mar 6, 2016 17:56:03 GMT 8
LCM-3s IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 1961 Yours truly went thru the Assault Boat Coxswains School in the Amphibious Base Coronado in 1961 and trained with LCM-3s and LCVPs. In the video, in the previous entry, it seems all the inspection plates in the well deck walls are unbolted and removed. The access plate to the Engine Room are also gone, they were bolted. I wonder, perhaps, the boat was sunk deliberately. W709 LCM-3s tied up in the Coronado Amphibious Base in the Greater San Diego area in 1961. W710 on practical training out of the San Diego Harbor, passed Point Loma with our LCM-3s to hit the beaches, practice the assault beach landings in surf conditions; this is Feb. 1961. W711 Yours truly, Karl-Wilhelm Welteke, as a Seaman Apprentice (SA or E-2) with other sailors of the 3rd Fleet going thru Assault Boat Training in Coronado Amphibious Base in Feb. 1961. I was sent here in Feb. 1961, soon after I had reported on board my ship the USS Belle Grove LSD-2 out of Long Beach, CA in Amphibious Squadron 7 at the time. It was a great honor that the ship sent a Bootcamp Sailor, like me, and the great thing was that I missed out on 3 month mess cooking (kitchen police) because I got a real job taking care of our only LCVP.
|
|
|
Post by snake on Mar 7, 2016 8:06:16 GMT 8
Great photos Karl and yes, it was probably sunk deliberately but I wondered why they didn't remove the engines.
|
|
|
Post by raven316 on Jul 12, 2016 21:06:17 GMT 8
Hey Karl This is a photo of my dad graduating from Amphib School in July, 1961. He was a signalman on the USS Crosby, APD 17 in WWII and was on an LCPR that put the first BN, 503d on the beach on the second day. He is second from the left, kneeling.
|
|
|
Post by cbuehler on Oct 31, 2016 23:31:22 GMT 8
These are fascinating discoveries of what history still lies beneath the waves. My own wish would be to have the area off the beaches below Kindley Field, Infantry point etc. on Corregidor surveyed. This is of course where the Japanese invasion occurred in 1942 and I have an overwhelming curiosity as to just what might lie under the waves in this area. It is recorded that several "barges" were sunk during the landings along with perhaps some other small vessels, but just what these so called barges really were is unknown. If something is still out there, it would certainly be an historic and enlightening discovery. On the other hand, if the area is clear of any wrecks of vessels, it could revise history a bit. If I ever had the funds, I would certainly conduct a survey myself.
CB
|
|
|
Post by snake on Oct 17, 2017 15:29:33 GMT 8
Hi CB, yes the Japanese landings came between Cavalry point and North Point to the north of Kindley Field, Infantry point is about half a mile to the west of this area.
In 2013, Notices To Mariners, N5/13, issued a number of corrections for wrecks and obstructions to the west and north of Corregidor to be added to charts. Two of the wrecks are off the north coast of Corregidor within range of guns at Cavalry Point. We've side scanned the ones to the west of the Island of which some look interesting and range from depths of 50 to 85 meters. You could be right that some vessels were sunk off the beach during the landings and these two might be worth a scan sometime although conditions here will probably be worse than the S.S. Corregidor site so may not be worth diving on. It would still be interesting to see what they are though.
|
|
|
Post by snake on Jul 22, 2018 12:10:25 GMT 8
These two wrecks were side scanned on June 23, both of them are boats sitting upright. The one to the west off Engineer Point is estimated to be about 50-55 meters in length with a NNW orientation, the one to the east off Cavalry Point is estimated to be about 40-45 meters in length with a WNW orientation and appears to have had the stern blown off. We attempted to dive the one off Engineer Point but the tide wasn't favorable and it was too dark to see anything down there, even with lights. When I first started researching them I thought they might be American wrecks, but after a lot of searching, I now tend to think that they're Japanese wrecks most likely sunk during the invasion of the island on May 5, 1942. " The initial landing of 790 Japanese soldiers quickly bogged down due to surprisingly fierce resistance from the American and Filipino defenders, whose 37 mm artillery exacted a heavy toll on the invasion fleet. The Japanese landing was difficult because of the strong sea currents between Bataan and Corregidor, as well as the layers of oil that covered the beaches from ships sunk earlier in the siege." (Battle of Corregidor, Wikipedia). We'll try and dive them sometime on different tide times but it will be hit and miss like the Corregidor site . Side scan image of the wreck off Engineer Point. Copyright 2018 Sea Scan Survey Side scan image of the wreck off Cavalry Point. Copyright 2018 Sea Scan Survey
|
|