WW2 Warship Wrecks Vanish from Their Resting Places

when john titor traveled back in time for old computers, he tore a hole in the time space continuum and accidentally brought the ships back with him to the future. I'm just glad he made it back safely.

Well, I have to admit that this is truly intriguing! I also would love to see pictures.

a reply to: Astyanax

It'd be more fun if a Bond villain was customising the wrecks into some type of Nautilus-of-death and deeps seas command base. Instead, it's opportunism, recycling or desecration depending on viewpoint.

There's a reasonable article on The Guardian - Mystery as wrecks of three Dutch WWII ships vanish from Java seabed

An international investigation has been launched into the mysterious disappearance of three Dutch second world war shipwrecks which have vanished from the bottom of the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia.

The Netherlands defence ministry has confirmed that the wrecks of two of its warships that sank in 1942 have completely gone, while large parts of a third are also missing.
British second world war shipwrecks in Java Sea destroyed by illegal scavenging
Read more

The wrecks were first found intact by amateur divers in 2002. But a new expedition to mark next year’s 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Java Sea discovered the ships were missing.

It's thought-provoking. Must we leave vessels to rust away if they have worth to local communities? Should people have to honour the war dead of nations they aren't allied with? Who's wrong and who's right?

originally posted by: TinfoilTP

China must be desperate for scrap metal.

Thats an interesting comment.

I read recently there has been a sudden and big jump in the price of scrap metal and apparently this is one of the indicators of impending war.

If the price recedes then I think we can be certain that had Hillary got into the job, the risk of war would have escalated dramatically.

a reply to: Azureblue

*grunts* 'Merica!

$500.4 Billion value attributed to the iron ore shipped through the Soo Locks each year. An average of 80 million tons of cargo moves through them each year.

www.michigan.org...

originally posted by: charlyv
Someone figured out a stealthy way to lift those ships and salvage the metal. IMO.

I read an article recently that British warships - designated war graves - are being pillaged by unscrupulous gangs. These are not just divers stealing trinkets, butr fleets of ships dredging up ships to extract the rarer metals and artefacts.

The problem is that if you look on Google Earth it'll tell you of the exact position of the wrecks.

originally posted by: Astyanax

Who -- or what -- stole the ships?

Interesting. Thanks for bringing this to our attention

a reply to: Astyanax

British vessels missing (imprints still on the seabed) are :-

HMS Exeter, HMS Encounter and the destroyer HMS Electra

Dutch vessels missing (imprints still on the seabed) are :-

HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java and HNLMS Kortenaer

US vessel missing is an un-named submarine

If this was salvage that was a lot of work to go un-noticed, i can't explain it at all

Maybe it wasn't salvedged for the scrap metal but to be sold on the black market to some billionaire who already has one of everything



Very interesting indeed

Salvaged or moved by Storm's.

If moved by storm's and currents then surely they would be right around the corner so to speak.

Hughes built that huge oil tanker/decker and salvaged that Russian sub all in secret so it's definitely possible.

Mandela effect, they got bounced to a different reality?

a reply to: Astyanax

Nature may have reclaimed a significant proportion of the materials they were constructed with but the super structures should still be around after only 70 odd years.

originally posted by: charlyv
Pre-1945 steel is in high demand and expensive. All steel made after that has contamination from the nuclear tests after 1945. Steel used in the production of sensitive instruments cannot have even the slightest elevation in radiation.

Someone figured out a stealthy way to lift those ships and salvage the metal. IMO.

Not really true anymore - it was, to a degree, when there was a lot of radioactive dust in the air and instruments weren't built to correct for background radiation, but doesn't apply anymore.

Interesting though, I hadn't known about it before reading your post and looking it up. Th is Straight Dope article gives the most concise explanation I found.

a reply to: Astyanax

Ok so are there no trenches where the ships were dragged? This is interesting.

It would be cool it we tagged all of the known artifacts in the ocean that we want catalogued by a tracking device powered by saltwater. This could also help research with how the ocean moves large objects etc.

Interesting to say the least.

The MoD seems to believe the wrecks have been looted and are threatening action, but against who?
news.sky.com...

Really interesting, I mean if you look at what it took to raise the Kursk from the bottom of the sea. How has it all gone unnoticed

a reply to: Astyanax
Astyanax do you have any other links? Your link in your opening comment just takes you to BBC news main page

Maybe the Japanese are refitting them and making them into spaceships.

I say....... Who gives a rats ass.
Make me think of disgusting Spain. Remember when those folks in Tampa found all that gold that was sitting on the ocean floor for a few hundred years..... then as soon as someone found it and started harvesting it..... LAWSUIT!!! Thats our gold!!!! We stole it from the Incas fair and square!!!!..... of course completely overlooking the fact that they had 200 years to go get it but it wasnt an issue...until it was an opportunity.

Egypt couldnt have cared less about their mummies..... until they found out that mummies = $$$
Then suddenly every museum that had a mummy in it was guilty of stealing Egypts most beloved treasures.... and owed them the return of their property pronto....... and more lawsuits.

If you abandon something on the ocean floor..... what ever happens to it is not your concern. This whole "underwater graveyard" fiasco is a joke as is the phony concern about the people who perished.
If dead people dont seem to mind having their burial site dug up and moved so a shopping center can be built...... surely they havent an issue if a sunken ship...... that even after 70 years no one cared enough about to go and retrieve the bodies for a proper military burial........ wont mind if the ship gets cut up and made into useful products

a reply to: Zimnydran
I see your point and kind of agree with it. I mean weren't there human remains dumped into land fill after 9/11. Like you said if it all means making $$$ that's the only time people care

I'm more interested in how, when and how long it took to get these boats

a reply to: Astyanax

Um, Im going with 9+ Earthquake and Tsunami in 2004 stirred up the sea floor and covered them up