Repulse & Prince of Wales Targetted By Scrap Thieves

Bloody disgusting.
"The dull reverberations of the underwater explosions are clearly audible from the surface. The scavengers have returned, laying home-made charges to break up the hulls of two of the most celebrated British warships of the age, sunk in December 1941 and the last resting places of more than 830 Royal Navy sailors.
No-one would countenance such desecration on land. But the wrecks of the HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, just a few miles off the coast of Malaysia, are now being stripped bare for their scrap value. Recognised war graves, they are disappearing, with the damage intensifying in recent months, according to those who know the wrecks and try their best to preserve them.
"We noticed the wrecks were being salvaged when we dived them in May 2013," Stuart Shaw, who operates from the TechThailand dive company, told The Telegraph. "They removed the remaining propellors from Repulse and the four propellors from the Prince of Wales sometime between September 2012 and May 2013."
Mr Shaw said he had repeatedly chased off scavengers from above the wrecks, but if they continued their work unchecked, Mr Shaw there would be nothing left of the vessels in as little as a decade.
Made of phosphor bronze, the massive propellors would have earned a bumper bounty for the scrap merchants. The scrap price for phosphor bronze is around £3,800 per ton, with each of the eight propellors weighing an estimated 15 tonnes.
But having stripped the wrecks of those components, the scavengers have now started to take other ferrous metals, primarily brass and copper, as well as large chunks of steel, such as the propellor shafts, and high-grade aluminium.
"There are no longer any propellors or shafts left on either of the wrecks and there are now a number of locations on both ships that have been extensively damaged by the use of explosives," Mr Shaw said."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11187603/Celebrated-British-warships-being-stripped-bare-for-scrap-metal.html

 

Terribly sad, but the people of this region are long known as being ones who 'recycle' anything for its value and artifacts from a foreign culture, especially one seen as being a former overlord, gets little sympathy. Not fair or just, but the norm for the region.

 

IIRC the Norwegians "salvaged" quite a lot of metal from Tirpitz.

 

At the time, Tirpitz was protected by no laws and any German remains found aboard were treated with respect ; neither applies to the Prince Of Wales and Repulse.

 

they are poachers and should be arrested for theft .

 

Great, first the Perth now POW and Repulse.

Agreed. Damn them all.

 

Are there actually any applicable laws there? National laws are not likely to trump international treaties or customs that have been around for centuries (and salvage law is basically finders keepers). I mentioned that nobody objected to the Tirpitz salvage to highlight the fact that it the legislation is rather murky.

 

Enforcement is the issue, maintaining a 24/7 presence to protect each and every wreck is going to get very expensive very quickly. Most often the salvors are caught after the damage has been done. All the laws are only worth the paper they are printed on, if not enforced. Then the question is who pays for the enforcement? The nation where the wreck lies, or the nation who still technically owns it.

 

My understanding is that if the wreck is in territorial waters it is not protected under international law. Wrecks in international waters are. I'm not sure whether it's the 3 mile limit or the 12 mile limit that applies.

 

Concerning the Tirpitz, she was undeniably in Norwegian home waters. I'm not sure where the R and PoW are in regards to national or international waters.