Niugini Dive Adventures - Papua New Guinea




	Niugini Dive Adventures Papua New Guinea

Two Tank Dive

Location

The purpose of this dive is to explore two small Japanese tanks from the Second World War, lying at a depth of just 4 metres in the natural harbour of Makada, to the north-west of the extreme tip of Duke of York Island. The bottom is mainly sandy, broken only by a few blocks of coral and the marine life is concentrated around these. The water is never clear and the two tanks are 20 metres from the calcareous coast of the island; a tropical shower is all that is needed to make the water even more cloudy. This point is fairly sheltered and dives can be made in nearly all weather conditions.

History

The wrecks of Makada are two standard 97 CHI-HA tanks weighing 15 tons each. Armed with a 57 mm short-barrel cannon and two 7.7 mm machine-guns, these vehicles were propelled by a 12 V cylinder 170 horsepower diesel engine producing a maximum speed of 38 kilometres per hour. The crew of four men was fairly comfortable thanks to excellent suspensions. Manufactured by Mitsubishi, the CHI-HA were the backbone of the Japanese armoured corps and were on the whole quite sturdy and reliable in all situations.

Dive

The dive is made from the MTS Discoverer, anchored close to the coast of Duke of York Island.

After diving down to the sandy bottom, proceed towards the wrecks. The shallow water and type of sea bed calls for cautious movement to avoid raising the suspension with your flippers, thus ruining visibility. Discovered by Frank Butler, an expert on the waters around Rabaul, the two Japanese tanks lie one in front of the other, parallel to the coast. They are in excellent condition despite having been underwater for fifty years; only the two cannons are missing. Around the two wrecks you will see the remains of a landing vessel which, quite probably, was carrying the tracked vehicles to the island; this must have been bombed and sunk, leaving them in their present position.

Swimming around the wrecks, you will also see ammunition, mechanical parts, tin plates, cups and other personal effects of the vessel’s crew. If you have time left after visiting the wrecks, you can explore the whole surrounding area, which harbours many surprises. Besides the small coral fish you will see crocodilefish, dowries, starfish and many gobies. This dive presents no difficulties and can be made even by beginners. The area around the tanks can also be of interest for those who dive without air, a mask, mouthpiece and flippers will suffice for a fascinating perusal from the surface.