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Old 10-06-05, 10:38 AM   #4
AG124
Sea Lord
 
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There are more examples of this as well.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valient were sunk in shallow water by Italian frogmen with explosives, but were both raised and repaired.

The light cruiser USS Raleigh settled on the bottom of Pearl Harbour as well during the attack, but was put back into service.

The destroyer USS Stewart was scuttled in shallow water, but was salvaged by the Japanese and commissioned as Patrol Boat 102.

There are also accounts of merchant ships sunk in shallow water which were raised and put back in service, although I can't think of any specific cases right now.

Sometimes, even if a ship broke in two and one half remained afloat, the surviving half could be salvaged. This happened to the US tanker Esso Nashville, torpedoed by U-124 in 1942.

There are however, cases of ships being sunk in shallow water and staying there.

The Arizona and Oklahoma were sunk in Pearl Harbour, but were too badly damaged to repair, although the Oklahoma was raised. Some history books try to claim that the Oklahoma was repaired though, but this is incorrect.

The German light cruiser Konigsberg was sunk while docked during the Norwegan campaign, and although she was raised and towed back to Germany, she could not be repaired.

The Royal Oak was a total loss after being sunk in Scapa Flow.

Also, Axis ships sunk near the end of the war were usually permanently disabled, as the country which owned them would no longer have the capacity to repair them. Such was the case of the Japanese warships sunk in Kure in 1945 (BB Haruna, BB Hyuga, BB Ise, CV Amagi, CA Tone, CA Aoba, CL Oyodo, DD's and SS's).

So there are some occasions in which it makes sense not to get credit for destroying a ship in shallow water, but IMO, if it completely explodes or even capsizes completely, it should probably be credited as it is most likely a total loss.
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