Pattaya & the Sattahip Wrecks · Thailand · Wreck · Artificial reef
HTMS Kut
US-built landing ship, scuttled as an artificial reef in 2006
Area photo: Maturos thiangtong · CC BY-SA 4.0
A wartime American landing ship that spent four decades in the Royal Thai Navy and was towed out to Pattaya Bay in 2006 to be sunk as the second artificial reef in the area. She sits slightly north of Koh Sak in 30 m of water, and barracuda, rabbitfish and giant grouper have moved onto her since.
Where it is and how deep
12.9562° N, 100.7933° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The wreck lies slightly north of Koh Sak in 30 m of water, which puts the seabed at the deep end of recreational limits and makes this a planned, single-level dive. She was put here deliberately, as the second artificial reef in the bay, so the dive is a run along a ship that was prepared and sunk on purpose rather than a hunt through wreckage.
What she has gained since 2006 is the point of the dive. Barracuda hold in the water around the hull, rabbitfish work the surfaces, and giant grouper have taken up residence in the ship - a fish big enough to be the thing you remember afterwards. Plan the turn early: at 30 m the no-stop time is short, and the ascent has to be paid for out of the gas you started with.
The wreck
- Vessel
- HTMS Kut (ex-USS LSM-333)
- Type
- LSM-1-class landing ship medium
- Built
- 1944
- Sunk
- 2006
- Cause
- Scuttled as an artificial reef in Pattaya Bay
- Lies
- Slightly north of Koh Sak in 30 m of water
She was laid down as USS LSM-333 at the Pullman Company in Chicago on 27 June 1944, launched that October and commissioned on 11 November 1944, a landing ship medium of the wartime US Navy. Thailand commissioned her as HTMS Kut (LSM-1) on 20 November 1947. She was decommissioned on 13 January 1989 and stricken in 1990, then lay at the Royal Thai Navy dockyard at Phachunlachomklao until 17 September 2006, when she was towed out to Pattaya Bay and sunk as the second artificial reef in the area.
Marine life and season
- Barracuda
- Groupers
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Prime | Fair | Good | Fair |
Season follows Pattaya & the Sattahip Wrecks: Gulf diving is best May-September and runs year-round; the wrecks are clearest November-March, though site charts drop to 1-2 m visibility in February, August, November and December.
Know before you go
- At 30 m this is a short dive with a hard bottom limit; set the turn pressure and the ascent plan on the boat, not on the wreck.
Questions divers ask
How deep is the HTMS Kut wreck?+
She sits in 30 m of water slightly north of Koh Sak, which makes her an advanced-depth dive with a short no-stop time.
Sources
- USS LSM-333 — Wikipedia
- HTMS Kut Shipwreck dive site — PADI Travel
- Pattaya — Wikivoyage
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