Governor Udomsak Asavarangura said East Marine SBS had sent a letter requesting permission to salvage the two human torpedoes, or Chariots, believed to belong to the British Royal Navy.

The Chariots sank near Dok Mai Island during a mission.

However, authorities in Phuket would first like East Marine to get British government confirmation that the two vessels really belonged to the British Royal Navy. "We need to have the evidence first, otherwise it could create problems for us later if the torpedoes are found to belong to another country," Udomsak said.

Manned torpedoes were secret naval weapons commissioned during World War II.

The British versions were electrically propelled mini-submarines with two crewmen equipped with diving suits riding astride.

They steered the vessel at slow speed to the enemy ship.

A detachable warhead was then used as a limpet mine after which the crew rode the "torpedo" away.

The device was carried by another vessel, usually a normal submarine, and launched near the target. The idea was successfully applied by the Italian navy early in World War II and then copied by the British when they discovered the Italian operations.

Some records say the British submarine Trenchant carried two Mk-2 Chariots for a mission at Phuket harbour on October 27-28, 1944.

Udomsak said the salvaging of the Chariots was related to national security, the environment and archaeology, and hence the province had to first consult several agencies, such as the Fine Arts Department, the National Resources and Environment Ministry and the Harbour Department.

The Chariots are archaeological finds under the authority of Thai Fine Arts Department, as they have been submerged in Thai waters for more than 60 years, Udomsak said.

"We also have to study the environmental effects," he said. "We still need information about how deep the naval weapons are under the water and how thick is the soil burying them."

  Anat Bumroongwong, Director of the 15th Regional Fine Arts Office, Phuket, said people in Phuket had known about the submerged weapons "for a long time" but they had never been investigated by the authorities. He said Thai and UK authorities should work together to identify the nationality of the weapons.

He said if it could be proved that they were British Chariots, the

UK would have a right to retrieve them.

Anat added there were also "several objects" belonging to the Japanese submerged in Thai waters from World War II.

Chatarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation