18 Nov 2016

Mystery of the Sea

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hmsexeter
HMS Exeter

Science Alert:

The wreckage of six warships and a submarine that have lain on the bottom of the Java Sea since 1942 is now missing, and naval authorities are at a loss to explain the disappearance.

The vessels – including three Dutch ships, six British ships, and a US submarine – all sank during the Battle of the Java Sea in World War II, when allied forces suffered a huge defeat at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy off the coast of Indonesia.

The discovery was made during preparations for next year’s 75th anniversary of the battle, with the Dutch defence ministry the first to confirm on Tuesday that the wrecks of two of its ships – HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java – had completely disappeared.

A large piece of a third Dutch ship, HNLMS Kortenaer, has also vanished.

Shortly after, the British ministry of defence confirmed that HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter had disappeared, with much of a third vessel – HMS Electra – gone as well.

A US submarine, the USS Perch, is also missing.

Naval researchers used sonar to create a 3D map of the seabed where the shipwrecks once lay, and while the vessels are no longer there, the indentation they left on the sea floor is still visible.

While the cause of these disappearances hasn’t yet been confirmed, naval authorities are launching an international investigation, suspecting scrap metal salvagers are to blame.

Complete article.

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Joel

Wow. I don’t know about the other ships, but Exeter was a 8500 ton heavy cruiser. According to Wikipedia the wreck was in 200 feet of water.

I’d pay to watch a salvage operation like that. From a respectful distance, given that the explosives in her torpedoes could still be live.



orcadrvr

From a technological perspective, it is amazing to think that these ships could be salvaged.
From a moral perspective, it is an atrocity that anyone would attempt to do so. Had the atrocity been witnessed by the US Navy, the British navy, or by the Dutch navy (do they still have one?), the salvagers should have been sent to the bottom of the Java Sea.
May these brave sailors continue to rest in peace. May the salvagers rot in hell for all eternity.



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