HTMS Sukhothai 2022
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Modern).
Key facts
| Name | HTMS Sukhothai | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 2022 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Modern | derived from year |
| Ship type | corvette | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Wikidata P828 has cause (on P793 event): storm |
| Nationality / flag | Thailand | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Royal Thai Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | Gulf of Thailand | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Thailand | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 43 km from land |
| Position | 11.0000, 99.8833 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HTMS Sukhothai (FS-442) (Thai: เรือหลวงสุโขทัย, RTGS: Ruea Luang Sukhothai) was a corvette of the Ratanakosin class operated by the Royal Thai Navy that was launched in 1986.
On 18 December 2022 in the Gulf of Thailand, high winds and strong waves caused seawater to flow into the warship; this flooding caused the engines to fail, and the pumps also became unusable. Sukhothai continued to take on water until it eventually sank overnight. As of 2 March 2023, the Royal Thai Navy had rescued 76 sailors and found 24 dead. An additional five sailors are presumed dead but their bodies were not found.
Diving & visiting
On 22 February 2024 a light salvage operation was launched from Royal Thai Navy in cooperation with US Navy under Cobra Gold military exercises 2024. The purpose of the operation was to search for the five missing crew members and remove hazardous materials from the wreck of Sukhothai. The operation ended on 12 March and a memorial monument is planned.
Admiral Adung Phan-iam, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy, unveiled a memorial monument dedicated to the sunken warship HTMS Sukhothai on September 24, 2024. The ceremony was held to honor the 29 crew members who perished or went missing during the ship's sinking in December 2022.The event was quietly done with minimal media presence.
Location
- Recorded position: 11.0000, 99.8833 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Gulf of Thailand
- Nearest coast: Thailand
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HTMS Sukhothai (revision 1380199749), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “2024 light salvage operation”, “Memorial monument of HTMS Sukhothai”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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