AM-294 USS SALUTE (American Wreck)
N 05°08.614' E 115°04.906'
Owner: US Navy
Built in November 1942 by Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, Washington
Date of completion: 4 December 1943
Gross Tons: 625 tons
Length: 184'6"
Beam: 33'
Type: Admirable Class Minesweeper
Speed: 15 knots. Powered by two diesel-electric engines, twin screws, 1,800 h.p.
Armament: 1 3"/50
Complement: 104
Fate.: Sunk by mine, S. of Borneo on 8 Jun 45
The USS Salute (AM-294) was laid down on 11 November 1942 by Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, Wash., launched on 6 February 1943 sponsored by Miss Patricia Lindgren; and commissioned on 4 December 1943, Lt. R. H. Nelson in command.
After shakedown, Salute sailed from San Francisco on 21 March 1944 for Hawaii. Between April and September 1944 she escorted convoys between Pearl Harbor, Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan, before reporting to the 7th Fleet at Manus on 8 October for the Leyte invasion. On 20 October, she joined her division, Mine Division 34, off the Leyte beaches for a four-day sweep of the main transport channel, and then anchored with the transports to provide antiaircraft support. Between 27 and 31 October, she helped search for survivors at the scene of the Battle off Samar, where a group of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts, had repulsed the attack of a more powerful Japanese fleet. For the next month, she carried out local patrols and sweeps in the vicinity of Leyte.
Salute participated with her division in most of the subsequent landings in the Philippines. She carried out pre-invasion sweeps at Ormoc Bay on 6 December, Mindoro Island on 14 December, Lingayen Gulf on 6 January 1945, and Zambales and Subic Bay on 29 and 31 January. During and after the initial troop landings, she helped extend the mineswept areas and provided antisubmarine and antiaircraft protection for the transports anchored off the beaches. Few mines were encountered, but kamikaze resistance was intense, and the ships saw much antiaircraft action.
On 13 February, Salute and her division began preinvasion sweeps in Manila Bay in preparation for the landings at Mariveles and Corrigedor. While sweeping off Corrigedor on the 14th, the minesweepers came within 5,000 yards of the island and were repeatedly straddled by Japanese fire before supporting ships silenced the island's guns. Salute continued sweeping in Manila Bay through 18 February, and her division earned a Navy Unit Commendation for the operation.
During the next two and one-half months, Salute carried out several local sweeps in support of ground operations in the Philippines, the most notable being a pre-assault sweep for the landings at Legaspi, Luzon on 1 April, and an 8-day sweep in the Sulu Sea off Palawan beginning on 22 April. On 9 May, the ship arrived at Morotai to prepare for operations in the Netherlands East Indies.
With Mine Division 34, Salute began the pre-invasion sweep for the landings in Brunei Bay, Borneo, on 7 June 1945. The next day, she struck a mine, buckled amidships, and both bow and stern began to sink. Two landing craft attempted to salvage the minesweeper, but they were unable to control her flooding, and the ship sank. Salute was struck from the Navy list on 11 July 1945.
Salute received 5 battle stars for her World War II service.
Back to top of page
DE KLERK (Australian Wreck)
N 05°08.283' E 115°05.403'
Owner: NV Koninklijke Paketvaart Mij (KPM) Batavia
Built in 1900 by Nederlandsche SB, Amsterdam, Holland.
Yard No: 33.
Date of completion: December 1900.
Gross Tons: 2035.
Length: 91.4m
Beam: 12.3m
Type: Passenger/cargo powered by triple expansion steam engine.
Speed: 12 Knots
Fate: Struck a mine in Brunei Bay on 16th September 1944 at N 05º.08 -E 115º.05'
A typical Far East passenger cargo ship operated by the Dutch as the 'SS De Klerk'. She was taken over by the Dutch Indies Government at the end of January 1942 for conversion to a troop carrier for the Royal Dutch Navy at Tjilatjap. The conversion was cancelled due to shortage of personnel, and the Navy scuttled her at Tandjong Priok on 2nd March 1942. The Japanese Navy salvaged her on 28th November that year, renovated her, and she entered Japanese service as the 'Imaji Maru'. She truck a mine in Brunei Bay on 16th September 1944 at N 05º.08 -E 115º.05'. Many female prisoners ('comfort ladies') were drowned as the Japanese took to the life boats. Several divers believe the wreck to be haunted. The vessel has lost most of its horizontal plating leaving just the riveted shell and the cross beams. The steam engine is a lovely example of its kind and the wreck is easy to penetrate. The vessel lies in 36 metres (HW), and in 1993 was canted over 45o onto her port side with the high side of the wreck rising to 22 metres at the shelter deck. For'ard there is a huge bomb hole in the starboard side. At the stern, the steel propeller and rudder were visible.
Over ten years later in 2006, the wreck appears much the same, however, the frame of the shelter deck has collapsed. The wreck appears to have sunk a bit into the seabed whilst rotating a little back towards the vertical. Certainly the wreck is no longer canted over so extremely, probably only about 20o off the horizontal, and the propeller is now buried in the sand. The highest point of the wreck is now some 26 metres (HW).
Diving this wreck is very atmospheric. The visibility is often less than 10 metres, and the skeletal remains of the ship and the tragic end to her life all combine with a touch of narcosis to produce a haunting, memorable dive.
The wreck retains the shell plating, however, all that remains of the horizontals are the frames. The bow hole in the starboard bow is impressive and a view from the hole looking upwards through the wreckage is shown below. The anchor chain runs from the starboard hawse pipe. The wreck's horizontal plating is all but rusted away, leaving the verticals and the machinery in place. In July 2006, we swam through the wreck end to end, passing the impressive steam engine and boilers.
Write up by John Elder of Panaga Dive Club
Back to top of page
BAIEI MARU
N 05°07.673' E 115°04.678' (Timbali)
N 05°07.613' E 115°04.508' (WGPS84)
Owner: Nitto Kisen K.K. Tokyo
Built in 1944 by Hitachi, Sakurajima
Yard No: not available
Date of completion: March 1944
Gross Tons: 2858
Length: 93.5
Beam: 13.8
Type: Wartime Standard Type 2Tm Oil Tanker, steam turbine
Speed: Cruising 9.5 Knots, Top 11.5 Knots
Fate: Hit a mine in Brunei Bay 28/10/1944 at 07.30Hrs and sank same day at 22.55Hrs. Three crew died in explosion
This wreck now lies upside down in about 50m of water and has been dived by members of the BSADC during June 2008 after BSP (Brunei Shell Petroleum) did a high resolution bathymetry survey of the deep trench that lies off Brunei bay and finding what could only be a wrecked ship by the scanned images.
Of the dives the divers say “We found an big inverted hull that appears to be intact, a massive 3 meter propeller and a lot of very dark and rising sea surrounding her.”
Hopefully now the wreck has been found a few more dives might bring up some hard evidence to the wrecks true identity.
Back to top of page
YUHO MARU
N 04°53.020' E 114°08.864'
The ship was hit by torpedo from American submarine USS Pargo SS-264 at 04deg 54min north, 114deg 07min east, approximately 35 kilometres NNE of Cape Baram, north west offshore Borneo, at 16:11Hrs on 26th November 1944. She was towed to Miri port and arrived there, but sank at 04:00 on 2nd December 1944. All the 26 personnel on board were killed by the torpedo hit.
Owner: Iino Kaiun KK, Tokyo
Built in 1943 by Mitsubishi, Nagasaki, Japan
Yard No: 919
Date of completion: 10/11/1943
Gross Tons: 5227
Length: 121.2m
Beam: 16.3m
Type: 1TM Wartime Standard Tanker, Steam turbine.
Speed: 11 Knots
Fate: Torpedoed and sunk by USS Pargo SS-264 on 26th November 1944 at N 04º-54', E 114º-07'
“The location is definitely that of the wreck, however, only the stern (aft of the stern mast on the picture) lies there. The ship must have broken in two as did her sister ship, the 'Nichinan Maru No.2' that was torpedoed north of the Spratleys 18 days earlier. The remainder of the ship may have been towed to Miri, however, the tanker's draft of seven metres or so would not allow it within three km of the beach. I suspect the wreck was grounded whilst the Japanese decided its fate. On 28th November, the American air force bombed the Miri Roads (offshore anchorage) and sank the Atago Maru. Perhaps realising that the bows contained precious fuel, the Japanese decided to tow it out of harm's way to Singapore. Along the way, the bows sank, for today they lie nearly 200 km east of Singapore. Amazingly, the two parts of the wreck lie just over 1,000 km apart!”
As written by John Elder of Panaga Divers Brunei circa 2004
Back to top of page
SOUTHERN GLORY
N 05°21.853' E 114°38.759'
Owner: Perkapalan Sinwen Marine Sendirian Berhad
Built in 1951 by NSW Government Dockyard, New South Wales, Australia.
Yard No: 40
Date of completion: August 1951
Gross Tons: 2427
Length: 93.1m
Beam: 13.3m
Type: Cargo ship originally named Karoon owned by Union Steamship Co of New Zealand.
Speed: 10 knots, twin diesel engined.
Fate: Foundered N 05º-23' , E 114º-41' 10/12/1993
LISA MILLER 2,427 gross tons. 293' x 43' x 17'4". Built at the New South Wales Government Dockyard at Newcastle for the Union Steamship Co of New Zealand as the Karoon. Purchased 1968 by R.W. Miller, renamed the "ELIZA MILLER". During late 1968 and early 1969 was shortened to become a bulk carrier on the Millers "60 milers" coal shipping run. Before all its conversion work was completed, it was renamed LISA MILLER (after Roderick W. Miller's eldest daughter) in 1969. 1979 sold to Southern Navigation Co of Kuching, Malaysia, renamed the Southern Cross. 1980 sold to Sing Brun Shipping & Trading Co of Singapore. 1988 again sold, this time to Kuala Lumpur Shipping Co of Singapore.
Note: John Elder of PSADC is one the few of a handful of divers to of dived this wreck and writes;
“Like many timber ships in the past, the Southern Glory sank in heavy weather after developing a dangerous list in a storm when its cargo shifted.”
“This is a very deep wreck , it lies in 63 metres on its port side, and the highest point of the starboard side lies at 53 metres. Like all the deep Brunei wrecks, the bottom 10 - 15 metres can be very silty with frustratingly poor visibility lying below crystal clear oceanic waters. “
Back to top of page
PACIFIC BOXER
N 04°57.406' E 114°07.229'
Owner: Swire Pacific
Built in Imamura, Kure, Japan
Yard No: not yet available
Date of completion: not known
Gross Tons: 388
Length: 38.8m, LPP 33.3m
Beam: 9m
Type: Anchor handling tug
Speed: not known
Fate: The vessel sank during anchor handling after two collisions with the stern anchor flukes of the barge Mantorek. 07:05 hrs, 30 July, 1982
This is a very deep wreck sitting almost upright on the sea bed at 63m. due to to its distance from of 45Nm and depth it has only been dived a handful of times by the PSADC.
Back to top of page
BOLKIAH
N 05°07.112' E 114°57.107'
Owner: Brunei government
Built in 1955 by Cheoy Lee, Hong Kong
Yard No: 649
Date of completion: 14 September 1955
Gross Tons: 200
Length: 112' (34m)
Beam: 24' 6” (7.3m)
Type: Twin Screw Mail and Passenger Ship. Accommodation for 6 First Class and 70 day passengers.
Speed: 12 knots. Powered by two diesel engines producing 202 B.H.P. at 600 R.P.M.
Fate: Scuttled by the Royal Brunei Navy in 1992. Reason for scuttling is that no vessel bearing the Brunei royal name is allowed to be sold for scrap.
http://www.cheoyleena.com/Notable_Projects/Notable-1950/index.html
PETANI MISTRAL
N 05°11.728' E 114°37.209'
Owner: Not known
Built in 1989 by Promet Shipyard, Singapore
Yard No: 1111
Date of completion:
Gross Tons: 832
Length: 58m
Beam: 12m
Type: Tug/supply ship
Speed:
Fate: The Petani Mistral sank after being swept onto a leg of the rig, Trident-12 at 21.45 hrs on 3rd February 1995.