British archeologists have located the wrecks of two German destroyers, V44  and V82, from World War I in an unlikely location — on the tidal mudflats near Whale Island in the eastern part of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the Brittany Ferries Terminal. This is less of a discovery than a rediscovery. The destroyers had been abandoned and then forgotten for almost 80 years.

As reported by the Independent: In the early 1920s, thieves looted the two destroyers for loose scrap metal – and later in the same decade, both ships were sold for scrap. However, only parts of the vessels were removed by the scrap merchants. The substantial remnants – including much of the ships’ hulls – were then abandoned and rapidly forgotten. Eight decades then passed before they were rediscovered by the archeologists.

However, local paintings from the 1920s, together with some archival sources, examined by the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s researchers, suggest that other First World War German vessels (possibly including a submarine) may also lie abandoned and possibly buried in mud nearby. An aerial drone survey will be used next month to help reveal details of what’s left of the two destroyers – and may also be used to try to locate any other missing German vessels. The new data will enable the archeologists to create 3D models of the two destroyers.

“Our research demonstrates that there are still major relics from the First World War waiting to be discovered. These two German destroyers are important because of the significant role they played in trying to control the seas around Britain during the conflict,” said Stephen Fisher, research officer for the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.

Next month,  archaeologists from Britain’s Maritime Archaeology Trust, will carry out a detailed survey of the two vessels, which are only visible at extreme low tide, and even then very difficult to access because of highly hazardous quicksand-style mudflats. One of the warships is thought to still have its boilers and some other machinery intact.

Originally the two destroyers were among the 70 German warships which surrendered to the Royal Navy in November 1918 and were subsequently interned in Scapa Flow Harbour in the Orkneys. However, in June 1919, in violation of the Allied/German armistice agreement, those German naval personnel, still  on-board their ships in Scapa Flow, hatched a plot to defiantly re-fly their battle ensigns and then scuttle their entire fleet. Much of the plan worked – for they succeeded in sinking the majority of their vessels (thus preventing the Royal Navy getting permanent possession of them). They failed in only two dozen cases, two of which were the  V44 and the V82 – because Royal Navy officers managed to intervene on those vessels to prevent the Germans opening the bilge valves and flooding those particular ships.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.