Investigation Reveals The Repulsive Thieves Of Missing WWII Shipwrecks

Investigation Reveals The Repulsive Thieves Of Missing WWII Shipwrecks | World War Wings Videos

The Guardian

Final Resting Place.

There is something about shipwrecks that captures the fascination of people all over the world. Once proud vessels that sailed the seas but then become relics of the past sunken to gloomy depths. However, many of these ships are disappearing at an alarming rate and it has more to do with decaying, the true culprit is illegal salvaging from the Chinese.

When you think of shipwrecks there are certain ones that come to mind such as the Yamato, the Bismarck, the USS Arizona and of course the Titanic. The Titanic is by far the most famous shipwreck of them all but after a century in the icy depths, there is not much of her left. Seaworms and underwater bacterial colonies have done more damage to her hull than the iceberg could have ever done. After a century of decay, the Titanic is meeting a slow death but other shipwrecks are not so fortunate.

It was recently reported that several WWII shipwrecks near Indonesia have been completely stripped of their hulls. These British and Dutch warships have been nearly stripped clean of their metal by salvage divers.

“The looting of Australian, American, British, Dutch and Japanese warships for scrap metal in south-east Asian seas has caused outrage, with veterans and governments arguing that the vessels must be preserved as underwater war graves for sailors.”

The Guardian.

The USS Arizona has been left alone as a war memorial for 75 years, but recently divers from National Geographic began an exploration into the restricted shipwreck. This has been met with much controversy and the public has voiced strong opposition to this expedition. There are many claims that the exploration is grave robbery because it has long been considered a tomb for the sailors that perished in the Pearl Harbor attack. The National Geographic Society disputes this accusation insisting that this is a meant preserve the site before the structural integrity of the USS Arizona is compromised.

An investigation has pointed to the finger to a Chinese crane boat known as a “grab dredger” spotted in the area by divers. It seems these vessels care more about making a quick buck from scrap metal than they do about the lives sailors who gave their lives. The investigation on the missing shipwrecks is covered in this clip.

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