Missing Battleships

[TEKNOPUG]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-37997640

Is it even feasible to remove structures this massive from 70m down on the ocean floor? What other explanations could there be?

[TommoAE86]

Could it be done by free diving/scuba diving? Either way it's pretty disgusting although I'm sure they might retort with however many temples/shrines the west marched over when conquering the lands but I don't know the history.

[Christmassss]

Can def be done..but not an over night thing. Certainly not something you can do with out people noticing

[Simpo Two]

Cruisers and destroyers

[robm3]

The rewards hardly seem worth the risk.
Apart from the brass what else would there be?

These aren't gold carrying Spanish merchant ships!

[FourWheelDrift]

robm3 said:

The rewards hardly seem worth the risk.

Low-background steel, metal untainted by nuclear material from atomic bombs?

If they have a paying market for it in the tonnage they can recover.

[Ayahuasca]

Discovered in 2002?

Wasn't there a rather powerful undersea earthquake not far away in 2004?

[smileymikey]

FourWheelDrift said:

robm3 said:

The rewards hardly seem worth the risk.

Low-background steel, metal untainted by nuclear material from atomic bombs?

If they have a paying market for it in the tonnage they can recover.

This +1

[BrettMRC]

Wasn't there blasting of other wrecks by 'freelance' salvagers over recent years? Could blasting have broken the wrecks up, with lots being removed as per the above...?

[Condi]

Too deep for scuba diving access, so will have been a very professional salvage operation with robots.

[Mansells Tash]

Condi said:

Too deep for scuba diving access

Too deep for traditional scuba but to steal/salvage a boat of that size you're going to have resources.

Commercial Divers can easily operate at that depth for prolonged periods.

[FourWheelDrift]

Something like this but bigger to grab and lift pieces.

[ecsrobin]

FourWheelDrift said:

Something like this but bigger to grab and lift pieces.

Bigger you say......

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSF_Explorer

[FourWheelDrift]

They are blowing up the wrecks and lifting the pieces.

And GSF Explorer is no more.

[aeropilot]

smileymikey said:

FourWheelDrift said:

robm3 said:

The rewards hardly seem worth the risk.

Low-background steel, metal untainted by nuclear material from atomic bombs?

If they have a paying market for it in the tonnage they can recover.

This +1

[Simpo Two]

The market for pre-nuclear steel must be small and well-known... so the thread easy to trace, no?

[KrazyIvan]

Is there any actual law that would forbid the salvage of ships in international waters (morality of sailors graves aside)?

And who would take who to what court?

And if you won, who would enforce the courts decision?

Really interested to know the actual implications of this, as the whole idea of "nicking" wrecks of the seabed seems almost Bond levels of villainy.

[Simpo Two]

Are wrecks still the property of the country that owned them pre-sinking?

[FourWheelDrift]

And at the same time the news of us only having 19 surface warships and 'isn't enough to protect us' rises to the top.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38044967
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=19+royal+navy&am...

"Royal Navy fleet at 'dangerous and historic low" - even lower if you count the lost wrecks.

I wonder how long they have known about the wreck looting and are only just releasing it to justify (rightly) to the bean counters the increase in defence spending needed. We can then have enough to look after UK waters and keep an eye on others.

There are no coincidences in politics.

[BoRED S2upid]

I read this yesterday seems impossible they have just vanished without trace.