View Full Version : Salvage divers destroying war grave
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-13/outrage-as-warship-grave-stripped-by-salvagers/5156320
This is a disgraceful act of vandalism. I'm not surprised but am annoyed that authorities have done nothing to stop the damage. I'm sure if it was an Indonesian grave in Australian waters we'd be hearing loud complaints from their government and media :nope:
Schroeder
12-13-13, 04:36 PM
This is disgusting.:nope:
No dignity whatsoever.
That must mean that the USS Houston, sunk in the same battle, is experiencing the same fate. :nope:
That must mean that the USS Houston, sunk in the same battle, is experiencing the same fate. :nope:
One would expect that to be the case as the Houston is the (slightly) shallower dive of the two as Houston was closer to shore when sunk. Sad if that is the case.
Jimbuna
12-13-13, 05:17 PM
Bad crack :nope:
Kapitan
12-14-13, 01:25 PM
sadly its not just happening over there, but in Europe also.
The three WW1 cruisers HMS Aboukiur, houge and cressy which were sunk all on the same day just hours apart by the same submarine U-9 in 1914 20 miles of the coast of Holland, these three ships took down nearly 2000 people and sadly in 1954 the british government sold the salvage rights:/\\!!
Today two of the ships are upside down making salvage hard but the other ship is being stripped for commercial gains these should be a war grave.
One would expect that to be the case as the Houston is the (slightly) shallower dive of the two as Houston was closer to shore when sunk. Sad if that is the case.
The extraordinary bravery and fortitude of those two crews in the face of impossible odds deserves a better epitaph.
fireftr18
12-16-13, 01:12 AM
I really don't know what to say. Who care's if the government is protecting the ships. It is really disgusting that people have no respect for others.
:Kaleun_Crying:
soopaman2
12-16-13, 02:07 PM
Ship salvage.
Just capitalism.
Love it or move to china you reds.
Your war graves are resources, just like the dead dinosaur graves we call oil fields..
How come no one mourns them?
They died for us too.
RIP Velociraptor, Apatosaurus, gastonia...etc.
We kill each other over your remains.
Petty, and selfish. sorry, but the dead are far beyond giving a crap about thier bones.
Despicable yes, but not worthy of international outrage. I would rather see the banking factions regulated, than worry about some antique stiffs.
AVGWarhawk
12-16-13, 02:45 PM
It nothing short of grave robbing.
Tango589
12-16-13, 02:54 PM
Your war graves are resources, just like the dead dinosaur graves we call oil fields..
How come no one mourns them?
They died for us too.
RIP Velociraptor, Apatosaurus, gastonia...etc.
We kill each other over your remains.
The difference is that nobody was alive to appreciate the dinosaurs when they were alive, whereas these sailors' ships were sunk and become graves still within peoples current lifetimes. It's the same as someone digging up your Great-Aunt Mary and selling her coffin for scrap wood and brass. The act is unconscionable.
Ship salvage.
Just capitalism.
Love it or move to china you reds.
Your war graves are resources, just like the dead dinosaur graves we call oil fields..
How come no one mourns them?
They died for us too.
RIP Velociraptor, Apatosaurus, gastonia...etc.
We kill each other over your remains.
Petty, and selfish. sorry, but the dead are far beyond giving a crap about thier bones.
Despicable yes, but not worthy of international outrage. I would rather see the banking factions regulated, than worry about some antique stiffs.
Aside from the fact oilfields were largely formed from ancient swamps and forests and not dinosaurs. We're talking about people who died whose relatives are still around.
Are you sure you're ok with someone from another country digging up your grandmother for the brass fittings on her coffin? How about if it was your mother or father or your brother? That's what this equates to.
Tango589
12-16-13, 02:58 PM
:sign_yeah:I second that!
Jimbuna
12-16-13, 03:57 PM
It nothing short of grave robbing.
The difference is that nobody was alive to appreciate the dinosaurs when they were alive, whereas these sailors' ships were sunk and become graves still within peoples current lifetimes. It's the same as someone digging up your Great-Aunt Mary and selling her coffin for scrap wood and brass. The act is unconscionable.
Aside from the fact oilfields were largely formed from ancient swamps and forests and not dinosaurs. We're talking about people who died whose relatives are still around.
Are you sure you're ok with someone from another country digging up your grandmother for the brass fittings on her coffin? How about if it was your mother or father or your brother? That's what this equates to.
Yeah that :yep:
The difference is that nobody was alive to appreciate the dinosaurs when they were alive, whereas these sailors' ships were sunk and become graves still within peoples current lifetimes. It's the same as someone digging up your Great-Aunt Mary and selling her coffin for scrap wood and brass. The act is unconscionable.
This ^
If it were a U-boat or other small craft i'd say as long as they remove the remains first then it'd be ok, but that's an impossible job with a cruiser or other large ship.
Update to the story:
US Navy divers to visit wreck of USS Houston in Indonesia
Divers from the U.S. Navy will visit the World War II graveyard of the "Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast” — the sunken USS Houston — later this month in a bid to determine what remains of the ship, which went down with more than 700 sailors off the coast of Indonesia.
The wreck of the Northampton-class heavy cruiser, which was sunk by the Japanese during the World War II battle of Sunda Strait on Feb. 28, 1942, will be surveyed by Navy divers working with their counterparts from Indonesia. The ship lies about 125 feet deep, near Java, Indonesia, where it has become a popular dive site for scavengers. Navy officials now want to find out what's left of the sacred site, especially given that it rests in corrosive waters in an unstable region.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/09/us-navy-divers-to-visit-wreck-uss-houston-in-indonesia/
Catfish
06-11-14, 01:17 PM
Aside from the fact oilfields were largely formed from ancient swamps and forests and not dinosaurs...
Wrong.
We're talking about people who died whose relatives are still around.
Well, yes. :shifty:
Rockstar
06-11-14, 06:40 PM
Sad indeed, but not the only culprit destroying graves of the fallen. These sunken memorials make excellent fish habitats and commercial fisherman know this too. They wreak havoc dragging nets and trawls tearing them apart until nothing remains.
Stealhead
06-11-14, 06:53 PM
Well as time passes nothing will remain of any man made vessel that is on the bottom. So scavengers and fishing nets only speed up the natural process of things.
The scavengers are wrong not so sure about fishermen using nets they tend to avoid wrecks because these can either tear the nets apart or pull the gear apart which is costly.Usually they mark known wrecks so as to avoid getting the nets caught up in the wreckage even for commercial boats a lost net is very costly and not worth the possible gain.Now guys using rod and reel they would be all over a wreck of course they can not really do much damage with their gear.Also the fact that this particular wreck is popular with divers means that any fishing vessel is not going to be near it anyway.
Peter Cremer
06-12-14, 09:36 PM
Wonder what the government would do if divers starting looting the old USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor?
Jimbuna
06-13-14, 09:16 AM
Do what any politician would do and act upon and in favour of the outcry from a united nation.
Wonder what the government would do if divers starting looting the old USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor?
They would descend upon the divers with a literal army of well armed cops and agents, haul them off to jail and charge them with an entire slate of crimes with penalties totaling several hundred years in prison.
Disgraceful but we all know this will not stop.
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