Sunken WWII vessels are disappearing

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Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,612
3,595
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Literally vanishing off of the ocean floor due to salvagers. Now you would think if all you wanted was scrap metal why not go after the thousands of derelict vessels that still float. But that overlooks one key market segment - low-background metal. Steel made now uses atmospheric oxygen that contains low levels of radioactive elements due to atmospheric testing. The metal in wwii vessels is what's called low-background and has a variety of specialize uses.

There's also probably a market in wwii memorabilia that can be scavenged although I don't think the article mentions this.

On February 27 1942, an Allied force consisting of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and nine destroyers faced off against the Imperial Japanese Navy in what’s now known as the Battle of the Java Sea. The battle was a massive defeat for the Allied fleet, which contained ships from the Australian, Dutch, UK, and American navies. Over the course of the engagement, two Allied light cruisers and three destroyers were sunk, while one of the heavy cruisers was badly damaged. The Japanese, in contrast, lost no ships and suffered damage to just one destroyer.

The area where the battle took place is now considered a graveyard, given that more than 2300 sailors were killed in the engagement. But a recent mission to the area to film the sunken vessels as part of commemorating the 75th anniversary of the battle has discovered that many of the wrecks have vanished off the ocean floor.
Click to expand...

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/239699-world-war-ii-warships-submarines-stolen-off-ocean-floor

These sites aren't just wrecks but graveyards and should be treated as hallowed ground. But there are so many in such diverse and remote places, the odds of securing them are slim at best.
 
Newbian

Newbian

Lifer
Aug 24, 2008
24,779
882
126
Wouldn't the water transfer a bit of radiation to it over time or is it very minor since it's only the exterior parts for the most part?
 
Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,612
3,595
136
I don't think it's legal. It's probably a violation of international law. The problem is trying to catch the people doing it. You're out on the open ocean posing as say a trawler or something. Everything is happening under the surface. The only way you'd know this is going on is if you had all of the wrecks mapped and then you surveilled all of the sites. But a lot of sites aren't mapped and even for the ones that are, you've got to pay someone for satellite time to monitor thousands of sites. Then you have to have some sort of infrastructure so you can call out the nearest coast guard/navy/LEO or whatever to interdict or investigate. You're talking about a serious and costly organization on an international level. It would be nice to see something like that come about but with all of the s*** the world is dealing with I dont' really see it happening.
 
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