Recently there has been disturbing news that the wreck of HMAS Perth is being stripped by scrap merchants in the sea off Java. In February 1942, the Leander class cruiser HMAS Perth was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the Battle of the Sunda Strait. Of the 681 sailors aboard, 353 died. Of the 328 survivors, all but four became prisoners of war, of which only 218 lived to return home to Australia after the war. Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing the news along.
WWII shipwreck HMAS Perth stripped by bounty hunters off Java
This is somewhat disturbing as one would have thought the wreck site was a war grave. While the current HAMS concern is deserved were was it during the last 71 years since the ship was sunk in February 1942.
Good Watch
Agreed. What doesn’t make sense is that HMAS Perth has never been officially designated as a war grave as she should have been. I am not sure that the designation would make any difference to the scrappers but it would make stopping them easier.
I don’t know what Australian laws may apply to the HMAS Perth situation, but the USA has the “Sunken Military Craft Act,” It’s purpose is to protect sunken military vessels and aircraft and the remains of their crews from unauthorized disturbance. It can be found in Title XIV of Public Law 108-375 of the 2005 National Defense Authorization Act.
The law codifies commonly understood principles of international law and existing case law confirming that sunken U.S. military vessels and aircraft are sovereign property. This statute provides for archaeological research permits and civil enforcement measures, including substantial fines, to prevent unauthorized disturbance. The U.S. Department of the Navy issued implementing regulations authorized under this law consistent with present permitting procedures. Several nations have reciprocal agreements measures in place to protect their government’s ships in the territorial waters of other nations.
If Australia does not have such laws in place, this would be a good model to follow. Bill.
As reported by ABC News Australia: The warship, which sank in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java, is the last resting place of as many as 355 Australian sailors who went down with the vessel after it was struck by multiple torpedoes.
But it has never been protected as an official war grave.
Australia and Indonesia are yet to ratify the UNESCO Convention on Underwater Cultural Heritage, a binding national treaty which would oblige both countries to protect such sites.