Well, it most probably could be the work of some government in an attempt to steal the military tech that could be salvaged. The design of warships and submarines is invaluable. The only military with such resources to haul cargo in excess of 6440 tons in those waters is the Chinese army. Especially considering the secretiveness of the operation which would involve perhaps hundreds of individuals divers and crew both is no easy feat. This is not the work of an organized crime syndicate or burglars, nor do they have the resources to carry out an operation of this scale without getting noticed.
Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
91–96 of 96 posts
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#92Note that this is only about warships... not ships generally. Plenty of sailors went down, in war, on non-warships. Those are not afforded the same ethics and were long ago violently cut up for salvage. This boils down to odd laws, specifically that warships remain property of thier governments forever. Non-warships are free for the taking once "abandoned" by owners (oversimplification for space). Dead people are dea…
Why we get upset about the wargrave of someone in uniform, but dont think twice about the wargrave of someone not, eludes me.
Because that's what the country is willing to pay you for willing to die for the country, i.e. being a soldier. The military has to uphold a much higher standard for honoring the dead, or it will face problems finding new recruits.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#93I'm pretty sure humans can't scavenge entire 4,000 ton warships from bottom of the sea, leaving only their indentation on the sea floor.
The fact that there was a 4000 ton warship on the sea bed, which then vanished leaving only the indentation, suggests that somebody is capable of it. I've had a look round for species that might be responsible, and so far humans do seem to be the most likely candidate.
The De Ruyter sank in only 69 metres of water. That's plenty accessible with modern technology.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree completely. Even worse is how some people (in the article) think that there should be regular patrols to prevent "illegal" diving at these sites. So we want to waste resources and fuel just patrolling some remote ocean site to keep people from messing with an old ship sunken decades ago, and also not let any non-salvagers just look at it? It's crazy. I'm all for museums and saving history, but this isn't it.…
Long-dead? This was only 75 years ago. My nan could have gone to school with some of the men that were killed on these ships. My nan is alive and well. These ships are maritime war graves. The remains were of men that weren't vikings or ancient Egyptians. They were our grandparents generation. That's pretty damned recent.
Can you find a concrete, non-emotionally biased reason that they should be left alone? They are dead, hey memories live on not in the ship, but in the people who's lives they impacted.
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#95It's a really interesting story, but I don't get the general slant. Doesn't it make more sense for us to recover high quality steeel that's sitting there unused instead of carving up yet another mountain and burning tons of coal to make it from scratch?
The article also discusses the fact that sunken vessels are home to a lot of marine life - local fisheries get their catch there, as the wildlife thrives in those locations. Thus salvaging the steel robs local folk of their income.
Is it really robbing them if they didn't have those jobs in the first place?
Re: Thieves Who Steal Sunken Warships, Right Down to the Bolts
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Long-dead? This was only 75 years ago. My nan could have gone to school with some of the men that were killed on these ships. My nan is alive and well. These ships are maritime war graves. The remains were of men that weren't vikings or ancient Egyptians. They were our grandparents generation. That's pretty damned recent.
Can you find a concrete, non-emotionally biased reason that they should be left alone? They are dead, hey memories live on not in the ship, but in the people who's lives they impacted.
Is there any concrete non-emotionally biased reason we bother with gravestones? Or do anything ritualistic with our dead? Why we have tombs of the unknown soldier? We are emotional beings.