Celebrating Vlad’s 41st birthday with a day on MV Polaris and diving the F4 Phantom wreck in Subic Bay.
Life is good!
Subic Bay , Philippines
Celebrating Vlad’s 41st birthday with a day on MV Polaris and diving the F4 Phantom wreck in Subic Bay.
Life is good!
Congratulations to divers Vic Ching and Maki Narita for completing their PSAI Advanced Wreck Penetration course with instructor Mark Cox, at Subic bay on the Sea Scan Survey boat MV Polaris.
Everybody enjoyed a week of great diving, great food, and great company.
Well done to everyone involved in this very successful trip.
The Subic Bay Douglas Skyraider wreck is in remarkable condition, considering the length of time it has been underwater, with only the engine and aft cockpit shrouds missing. The Philippines Skyraider aircraft wreck was reportedly located by Johan De Sadeleir from Johans dive center.
Towards the end of War World 2 the US military desperately required a long range, carrier based, high performance, dive-bomber with a tremendous ordnance payload. The Douglas Aircraft Company produced prototype models before being awarded the contract to produce the “Skyraider”. The aircraft were turned out at a rate of up to two a day at Douglas’s El Segundo power plant in Southern California. The Douglas Skyraider first hit the skies in March 1945 but didn’t see wartime service until the Korean War in 1950. The aircraft soon became the backbone of US Naval operations throughout the Korean War. The Skyraider was built in almost 40 different configurations. The first wide body variant flew in August 1951 and was intended to carry additional crew, electronic equipment and weapons for anti-submarine warfare.
On April 27th 1964 it ditched into the sea following an engine failure on takeoff. There were no recorded fatalities and the condition of the wreck would testify to this as it is in a remarkable condition with only the engine and rear canopy panels missing. The forward bubble canopies are in the slid-back position.
The wreck is extremely impressive and is home to Sweet Lips, Banded Coral Shrimp, Hinge Beak Shrimp and Juvenile Jack Fish.
Depth: 36M
Below is video footage from our dive on the wreck in August 2015