Certainly be interesting if they have. "The remains of the first ship to be sunk in World War Two appear to have been identified on the Atlantic seabed. Shipwreck-hunter David Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner Athenia to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. Germany initially denied involvement fearing the US would join the war. U-boat commander, Fritz Julius Lemp, had mistaken the liner for an armed cruiser and the German naval authorities tried to cover up the sub's actions. They even attempted to blame the sinking on Winston Churchill, who on that very day - 3 September, 1939 - was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. The Germans said he had ordered a British submarine to fire on the Athenia as part of a plot to force Washington's hand. The full truth only emerged at the Nuremberg Trials. Chamberlain's famous "we are at war with Germany" broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the morning. The torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. She was slow to go down, disappearing beneath the waves, stern first, at 11 the next morning. David Mearns, who has found some two dozen major wrecks for insurers and TV companies, says the Athenia's hull is visible in sonar data acquired by the Geological Survey of Ireland. It is split in the aft section where the torpedo hit, but otherwise looks to be in reasonable shape, sitting proud of the sediment. To the untrained eye, sonar imagery can be difficult to interpret, but Mr Mearns says the dimensions of the target match exactly what would be expected of a 160m-long, 13,500-tonne passenger liner. What is more, the coordinates are very close to those sent out by the Athenia's radio officer in his distress call, and recorded in the logbooks of the vessels that came to the rescue. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' No. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. Everything fits," Mr Mearns said. The relatively shallow water on Rockall Bank, an area of raised seabed a few hundred km from the Irish coastline, means it should be reasonably straightforward to send down a remotely operated vehicle to investigate the sonar contact." Wreck could be sunken Athenia from WW2
Thanks for posting Gordon. Hope they can identify her soon. If I am not mistaken, Mearns is the guy who located the Hood in the early 2000s.
The nice thing about Shipwrecks, is that unlike plane crashes or really any other land relics from WW2, they can't be looted or handled disrespectfully (at least for now) while they are hundreds of feet below the waves. I'm glad for the most part scientists and explorers have let many ships like the Athenia rest in peace while also learning incredible information, gotta love technology.
Sure they can, provided that the wrecks are shallow enough... Celebrated British warships being stripped bare for scrap metal Wreck of HMS Repulse 'rigged with scrap metal merchants' explosives' British second world war shipwrecks in Java Sea destroyed by illegal scavenging USS Houston Wreck ‘Largely Intact,’ HMAS Perth Status Inconclusive How Does an Entire Shipwreck Disappear, Bolts and All?
