DSDC plan to dive the German Submarine U-533

[island_sands]

Deepwater, and other members of the DSDC (Desert Sport Divers Club) of Dubai are going for the fifth attempt at diving the U-533 on Friday 25th May. Deepwater and teamfirst found the wreck some years back in 2000, and did the following write up:

After 3 long years of searching, training, 1 trip to a chamber and broken
heart , we finally found the the wreck of the U-533 in the Gulf of Oman.

The U-533 went down in October 1943 and no one had seen it until Friday.

Our team headed out on a Dhow at 1 am on Thursday to the site We arrived at
5:30 am tired and excited as no one had really slept well the night before.
My buddy for this dive was Phi Le , whom most of you know. After an hour of
searching , the first team of divers went down on CCR.

Now , this sub lies at 110 meters !!!!!! Pretty deep but we had been
training for ages to dive to this depth. By training I mean , dives between
75-84 meters every weekend for nearly 14 months.

As the first divers surfaced , we were greeted by a " HEY....WE FOUND
HER!!!!" I could not belive my ears as it has been our project for nearly 3
years now. Phi and I waited for about another two hours for the second wave
of divers to get in , which seemed like an eternity.

Finally, it was time for us to dive. Phi and I geared up on the chase boat
and headed toward the shot line that was on the wreck.

For this dive , Phi was using the KISS rebreather with 2 bail out tanks. I
had ,( funny part to most !!)

1. Twinset with 10/70.
2. 80 cuft with 10/70 for to use on the bottom.
3. 7 ltr with 35/25.
4. 80cuft with 50%
5. 80cuft with 100%.

Phi and I started our decent and at 88m we were greeted by the biggest
pelagics I had ever seen. As we carried on , our 18 watt HIDs with the EKPP
reflector cut through the darkness like a light sabre. There she was , the
U-533 in all its glory. Sad ,silent but happy that we found her. It is still
a grave to the sailors still inside. We did not have long at that depth. We
left after 12 mins, but I will never for get the sight of it all. The prop
was on the sea bed which was at 115m but the rudder was still in tact . From
a distance I could just about make out the conning tower . We had 112 mins
of deco to carry out.

The deco went well with no problems. On surfacing we all felt a great sense
of achivement . Once we got back to the harbor, un loaded the kit , we all
met up for a quick celebration drink before the drive home ( ice tea for
most). It was at this point that we thought of John Bennett and his words to
us. John had dived with us 3 years ago, so his death a few months beforehand was devastating news to us.

His words to us were " Team work, its what makes it happen".

In memory of John Bennet. A friend whom I owe a lot to.

The DSDC team have attempted to dive this wreck several times and due to strong currents and other conditions it has not been possible. The U-533 went down in October 1943 when it was was attacked by an American PBY-5A Catalina of VP-84/P-5. Three of U-533´s gun crew were injured by the Catalina's .30 cal. gunfire. They were: (Bootsmaat Buttkus, Matrosengefreiter Ludwig and Matrosengefreiter Fekken). U.533's destruction had an amazing sequel, when the only survivor of U.533 finding himself in the water, and spurred on by the fear of sharks swam 20 miles in 28 hours until he reached Khor-Fakkam on the Muscat coast!

All of them went again out to sea and Buttkus and Ludwig perished with the boat the following October.

a. Depth 110 metres

b. Surrounding seabed is sand

c. Ocean environment – open sea, 40 km from nearest landmass

Technical information for type IXC/40

Displacement:
(tons)
1120 (sf)
1232 (sm)
1545 (total)

Length: (m)
76,76 oa
58,75 ph

Beam: (m)
6,86 oa
4,44 ph

Draught: (draft)
4,67 m

Height:
9,60 m

Power: (hp)
4400 (sf)
1000 (sm)


Speed:
(knots)
19 (sf)
7,3 (sm)

Range:
(miles / knots)
13850/10 (sf)
63/4 (sm)

Torpedoes:
22
4/2 (bow / stern tubes)

Mines:
44 TMA

Deck gun:
105/45
110 rounds

Crew:
48-56 men

Max depth:
ca. 230 m
(755 feet)

Displacement:
(tons)
1120 (sf)
1232 (sm)
1545 (total)

Length: (m)
76,76 oa
58,75 ph

Beam: (m)
6,86 oa
4,44 ph

Draught: (draft)
4,67 m

Height:
9,60 m

Power: (hp)
4400 (sf)
1000 (sm)


Speed:
(knots)
19 (sf)
7,3 (sm)

Range:
(miles / knots)
13850/10 (sf)
63/4 (sm)

Torpedoes:
22
4/2 (bow / stern tubes)

Mines:
44 TMA

Deck gun:
105/45
110 rounds

Crew:
48-56 men

Max depth:
ca. 230 m
(755 feet)

Join me in wishing them luck for a successful dive.

[Donna]

Wow, what a dive.... best of luck team, hope you enjoy every minute.Looking forward to the trip write up

Donna

[island_sands]

me too, a bit nervous about the dive... i am waiting for their return in the sidelines

[Deepwater]

Well, looks like it might be next week.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I need to get back safe and sound to be witha special someone who means the world to me.

A

[island_sands]

[Deepwater]

Hiya,

Well, we landed right on the wreck on top of the AA gun mount. The wreck was pretty broken up and alot of coral growth on it plus some big fish

My max depth was 109m with total Time of 140mins underwater.Also got some great UW video footage.

Thought of a special someone during deco which made it go well.

Ali

[island_sands]

Originally Posted by Deepwater

Hiya,

Well, we landed right on the wreck on top of the AA gun mount. The wreck was pretty broken up and alot of coral growth on it plus some big fish

My max depth was 109m with total Time of 140mins underwater.Also got some great UW video footage.

Thought of a special someone during deco which made it go well.

Ali

Ali it would be great if you could upload the videos to google or something

[Billextreme]

I'm a true sub-freak and waiting for photos/videos with biggest excitement

/B

[Donna]

Glad you came back safe and sound and enjoyed the dive as well.... hope your deco thoughts weren't too distracting

Looking forward to the pics

Donna

[Deepwater]

I will try to get get some pics from the video clips.

Of course, Sara, you are welcome to come and lie on my sofa with me and we can watch together


Ali

[icarus pacific]

Originally Posted by island_sands

... i am waiting for their return in the sidelines

Smart move.

As somone that does this stuff much deeper for a lot longer, this kind of "exploration" borders on a bad game of Russian Roulette. Now before everyone goes off and gets their thongs allll in a bunch, let me wish the divers well, and urge them to get some real training, a whole slew of sponsorship and the serenity of knowing that their kids will be covered by an astronomical insurance policy. Trust me.

I'll check in on the developments when I get back from the next debacle in Norway- 885' and a projected 11 days. The insurance quote is $135,000.00 US. Do the math.

Ta.

[island_sands]

Originally Posted by icarus pacific

Smart move.

As somone that does this stuff much deeper for a lot longer, this kind of "exploration" borders on a bad game of Russian Roulette. Now before everyone goes off and gets their thongs allll in a bunch, let me wish the divers well, and urge them to get some real training, a whole slew of sponsorship and the serenity of knowing that their kids will be covered by an astronomical insurance policy. Trust me.

I'll check in on the developments when I get back from the next debacle in Norway- 885' and a projected 11 days. The insurance quote is $135,000.00 US. Do the math.

Ta.

Hey Sven! how's you? Must admit I dont aspire to those depths but would love to go just a tad deeper to see some of our wrecks at 70metres. not without the training and experience of course. What's the Norway 885? Sounds like the abyss to me.

[icarus pacific]

There's some pipe work leading from an offshore field and it's at 885'. And abyss pretty much covers it, though most all work past a couple hundred is in the subtle glow of the lights bolted to my head.

When people wank about their field of vision being limited behind a freedive specific mask, I smile. Odor than that, things are OK pending the sinus surgery coming up.

[Adrian]

That's 270 meters...only What sort of setup do you have at those depths? The old brass helmet suits come to mind, but that's probably way old and there's new and better equipment I have no idea about. How long do you stay down there and what's your decompression time?

[icarus pacific]

The dive guys work from a habitat or bell. The bell is suspended from a ship or platform where we do the descent in a PTC (transfer capsule) to the bell and then are lowered to the work. I dive with a drysuit, a Unisuit converted to a hotwatersuit with a modified Miller or Superlight 37. The deco generally goes for 2-3 days. My brass Mark 5 sits in the office as I type this.