|
It's not for the casual scuba diver, diving on lost wrecks,
but for the experienced diver it is possible. The bottom of
the ocean floors of Southeast Asia is littered with wrecks,
both ancient and recent, wrecks that are waiting to be
discovered.
It's hard to imagine that prior to World War II divers had
to use hard hats with pumped-in air to explore ocean
bottoms.Diving was limited to professionals only. Then
came the development of scuba diving equipment and a
whole new era in underwater exploration began.
Marine archaeology for the scholar was now possible and
another very profitable pastime took on new dimensions-
treasure hunting. What started in the Mediterranean as a
search for Greek and Roman amphora-laden galleys
eventually led to the quest for sunken gold-laden Spanish
vessels in the Caribbean.
Such discoveries in the Caribbean are common. Records
show that in the waters around Florida alone Spain lost
some 381 vessels in a period lasting less than 150 years.
And nearly every ship lost was carrying gold, silver or
precious stones, in some instances all three.
Until very recently, marine archaeology and treasure diving
was concentrated in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
Then in the late 1970s, Thai fishermen found a sunken
Chinese junk off their southern Sattahip coast, and a new
world of exploration opened up.
On hundreds of previous occasions, Thai fishermen had
found bits of pottery in their nets but had not thought much
about it.But when they brought back three unbroken pieces
which they had untangled from their nets, and were offered a
handsome price by an art dealer, the picture changed. The
fishermen returned to the site and collected 82 more
ceramics, which they sold for a reported US$1,500. The
quest was on.
The Sattahip incident highlighted the fact that the Asian
undersea world is virtually unexplored. Yet the history of
the region is filled with accounts of sea voyages, voyages
that had certainly resulted in countless wrecks that had
scattered their remains on the ocean floor.
China had been sending her junks on expeditions of trade
and exploration to far reaches of Asia for some 2000 years.
Commerce in the area was active when Rome was only a
minor trading post. Ships of a dozen eastern nations plied
the Asian seas for centuries and how many spilled their
treasures on uncharted coasts or submerged coral reefs?
The biggest difficulty with marine archaeology is finding
sunken vessels in the first place. Even after they have been
reported lost in a given area the problem is not solved.
Survivors from a shipwreck are less than accurate in fixing
positions. Even more confusing is the fact that most
vessels go down on the windward side of reefs, where their
bottoms are torn out by coral.
Considering that coral can grow a centimeter a year, only
a few years are needed for a ship, with its cannon, anchor
and cargo, to lose its distinctive shape and outline. And
wooden hulls, within a few years, unless protected by
sand or mud, will be eaten away by worms.
But even more destructive is the sea itself. Chemical action
between salt water and iron objects eventually converts
such things as cannon balls into virtually pure hematite.
Wrought iron merely disintegrates. Silver becomes silver
sulfide. Copper or brass becomes encrusted with a patina.
Pottery or earthenware becomes overgrown with oyster
shells. Three commonly found metals that are virtually
immune to destruction by seawater or time are tin, lead
and gold.
The lack of modern, and expensive, diving equipment need
not be an excuse for not going exploring on your own. All
one needs, aside from basic equipment, is some know-how,
spirit and a l ot of luck to find an undersea world of adventure.
War wrecks have always been the object of keen salvage
operators and both the South Pacific and SoutheastAsia
have untold wrecks beneath their seas. To explore these
wrecks,I built and outfitted my own 71-foot schooner, Third
Sea, and for 18 years sailed Asian and South Pacific
waters, touching upon many islands that were battle sites
during World War II.We came upon airstrips with bombers and
fighters still on the runways; harbours with dozens of sunken
ships, some in water so shallow we could see them below the
surface; caves filled with rusting arms, helmets and mess gear;
heavy brass cannons hidden in lonely mountain outposts;
and other islands where the military simply walked off when it
was all over and left everything behind. I wrote in detail about
this my books “The Last Voyage” and “Return to Adventure
Southeast Asia.”
Most divers have heard of Truk Island in the Carolines. It was
here that much of the Japanese navy was finally bottled up and
sunk. A place that is even more spectacular is Rabaul on the
island of New Britain. Rabaul was one of the most important
targets in the Pacific war. The Japanese captured the port two
days after they bombed Pearl Harbor and immediately began constructing one of the toughest, most formidable bastions ever
built. It was virtually impregnable.The combined allied forces
dropped more than 20,000 tons of bombs on the place.
The Allies never tried to recapture Rabaul as it was easier and
cheaper to simply bypass it and starve it out.
The Japanese at Rabaul surrendered only when the war ended.
The Allies came ashore and found 90,000 Japanese,
civilians and military, living in an amazing subterranean world,
580 kilometers of caves into which ships and even submarines
were pulled when air attacks threatened them.
Some allied bombers had found success. Records show that
more than 400 known wrecks lie at the bottom of Rabaul bay,
including an American submarine. Only a handful of these
wrecks have been explored by divers.
I met several weekend divers when I sailed into Rabaul.
One Australian engineer and his sixteen-year-old son had
been working the harbour for three years. He told me, off
the record,that he had earned enough to retire for life,bringing
up brass shell casings and selling them to the Chinese.
He was an underwater photographer and had hundreds of photos
of sunken vessels, including a Japanese Zero in shallow water,
virtually intact.
The Solomon Islands, South of Rabaul, are where some of
the heaviest fighting of the Pacific war took place. As I have
mentioned, entire airfields were lost and forgotten and in
some bays entire navies went down to the bottom. Here in
the Solomons, I dove on the site of President Kennedy's
sunken PT-109. But that's another story.
Divers don't have to look to war wrecks for excitement.
Hardly an island or an atoll that we visited didn't have at
least one Korean or Taiwanese fishing boat piled up on the
reef. Some larger islands had two or three. On inhabited
islands, natives clean out the cargo, leaving the ships with
valuable equipment to rust and to be slowly broken up by
the pounding sea.
In Southeast Asia, a whole new field of undersea
exploration is taking place. The discovery by Australian
Mike Hatcher of a Dutch ship sunk in 1724 off the east
coast of Malaysia made history a few years ago when he
and his divers brought up elephant tusks and tin ingots
worth millions. Later, Mike had found the famous Nanking
wreck, a find that Christi's in London auctioned off for a
reported US$36 million.
Such diving is not for everyone but for those who want to do
some regular scuba diving ask your nearest TG office for
the Special Interest Holidays booklet. I have also written
about diving and other adventures in my book “Return to
Adventure.” Write to me about your autographed copy.
My space for this week is running out. Next week I'll take
readers on an actual discovery, the British battleship
Repulse sunk by Japanese bombers in the opening days
of World War II. We found her in 180 feet of water near
Singapore.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q. Dear Mr. Stephens. My husband and I are planning a
trip to Thailand, and when he asked what I wanted to buy,
I said a Siamese cat. He laughed and said there are no
such cats and that’s it’s only a name, like French fries. Do
you know if he might be right? By the way, I do enjoy
reading your stories each week. Beatrice Rice, Orlando,
Florida
A. Dear Mrs. Rice. You may tell your husband that
Siamese cats are real, and truly a produce of Thailand.
I have been told they are known for their air of aloofness,
brilliant blue eyes,regal bearing, and sharply contrasting
colors. Siamese cats make delightful pets, being
fastidiously clean, extremely intelligent, and affectionate.
The first official reference to the Siamese species
occurred in five poems discovered in 1830.
You might want to take your husband to the Rattanakosin
Room at the National Museum. The nicely illustrated Samut
Thai book is on display there. I wanted
to take a photo for you but cameras are not permitted.
I did check with a Thai friend who has several Siamese
cats. She claims they are born pure white,but display
their variegated coloration within the first month. She
also insists that their movements are graceful like
Siamese classical dancers, and that they are born
Buddhist and never convert to another religion. There
are pet shops around Bangkok that sell Siamese cats,
if you are interested, but don’t tell your husband I told
you. —HS
Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel
Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.
Back to Index
|
