"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
10 November 2017
WWII shipwrecks are disappearing
Reports of this have been appearing for several years, but The Guardian has just compiled a longread with excellent illustrations:
Dozens of warships believed to contain the remains of thousands of
British, American, Australian, Dutch and Japanese servicemen from the
second world war have been illegally ripped apart by salvage divers, the
Guardian can reveal.
An analysis of ships discovered by wreck divers and naval historians
has found that up to 40 second world war-era vessels have already been
partially or completely destroyed. Their hulls might have contained the
corpses of 4,500 crew...
The rusted 70-year-old wrecks are usually sold as scrap but the ships
also contain valuable metals such as copper cables and phosphor bronze
propellors.
Large “crane barges” have been photographed above wreck sites, often
with huge amounts of rusted steel on their decks. At the seabed, divers
have found ships cut in half. Many have been removed completely, leaving
a ship-shaped indent.
Cambodian, Chinese and Malaysian-registered vessels have been spotted
above shipwrecks. In some cases, their crews have been arrested. In one
case, the looters had acquired a letter from a Malaysian university which said the work was authorised as “research”...
Archeologists believe the criminals might be turning a profit because
the hulls are one of the world’s few remaining deposits of
“low-background” metals. Having been made before atomic bomb explosions
in 1945 and subsequent nuclear tests, the steel is free of radiation.
This makes even small quantities that have survived the saltwater
extremely useful for finely calibrated instruments such as Geiger
counters, space sensors and medical imaging.
Some ancient ships, often centuries-old Roman vessels in European
waters, have also been salvaged for their lead, which is also
low-radiation and is used in nuclear power stations.
Super interesting and quite sad for the history lovers among us. I was reading another article (I'll try to hunt it down) suggesting that salvaging WWII era nuclear submarines might be how North Korea has recently acquired some of it's nuclear material.
A "wreck" was "destroyed"?? They try to pull the "there may have been corpses" card, but no one did anything about the bodies for a week of decades.
Another way to put this would be someone is finally cleaning up the garbage from a horrendous war.
Not to be too curmudgeonly, but a lot of people care so much about "history" AFTER its gone (were people just idly hoping it would disintegrate peacefully?) And none of this logic applies to car wrecks, plane wrecks, train wrecks or even ancient Greek trade ship wrecks!! Just because it's underwater and interesting to check out later, simply because it's not been financially advantageous to clean up before, does this mean it needs to stay forever? Sad. - Sorry, I know I need an editor to clean up the grammar.
Rose, your arguments are valid and you express them well. The arguments for preservation are also conveniently ignored for Etruscan and Mayan sites and for European WWII rubble.
Its not always about history, Rose, there are legitimate legal and ownership issues regarding these wrecks. Often these salvagers are actually stealing. Also the corpses are mentioned because the wrecks are many times considered grave sites. Maybe you dont care if I were to take the headstone from your family plot, and see if the coffin hinges can still be used, but other people don’t want thier loved ones gravesites pillaged.
Super interesting and quite sad for the history lovers among us. I was reading another article (I'll try to hunt it down) suggesting that salvaging WWII era nuclear submarines might be how North Korea has recently acquired some of it's nuclear material.
ReplyDeleteAre people listening to themselves?
ReplyDeleteA "wreck" was "destroyed"?? They try to pull the "there may have been corpses" card, but no one did anything about the bodies for a week of decades.
Another way to put this would be someone is finally cleaning up the garbage from a horrendous war.
Not to be too curmudgeonly, but a lot of people care so much about "history" AFTER its gone (were people just idly hoping it would disintegrate peacefully?) And none of this logic applies to car wrecks, plane wrecks, train wrecks or even ancient Greek trade ship wrecks!! Just because it's underwater and interesting to check out later, simply because it's not been financially advantageous to clean up before, does this mean it needs to stay forever? Sad. - Sorry, I know I need an editor to clean up the grammar.
Rose, your arguments are valid and you express them well. The arguments for preservation are also conveniently ignored for Etruscan and Mayan sites and for European WWII rubble.
DeleteIts not always about history, Rose, there are legitimate legal and ownership issues regarding these wrecks. Often these salvagers are actually stealing.
ReplyDeleteAlso the corpses are mentioned because the wrecks are many times considered grave sites. Maybe you dont care if I were to take the headstone from your family plot, and see if the coffin hinges can still be used, but other people don’t want thier loved ones gravesites pillaged.