WWII Wrecks

Second World War

British WWII sub found off Norway

The waters off the coast of Norway have unveiled a long-hidden secret. The wreckage of the British submarine HMS Thistle, which sank during World War II, has been discovered after 83 years. The discovery was made by Norway's Institute of Marine Research and the MAREANO program during a routine seabed mapping cruise. The submarine's identification was confirmed only recently, following a subsequent cruise.

The HMS Thistle embarked on its final voyage on 10 April 1940. Tragically, it was torpedoed by a German submarine, leading to the loss of all 53 crew members on board.

Image
Hull of HMS Thistle
British T class submarine HMS Triumph

British WWII submarine located in the Aegean Sea

Kostas Thoctarides told state news agency ANA his team had located the wreck of HMS Triumph at a depth of 670 feet at an undisclosed location in the Aegean Sea.

The HMS Triumph was a British T-Class submarine involved in military operations in the Aegean Sea and elsewhere in the European theatre of the Second World War. It carried out twenty missions, including attacks against Axis ships, landing British commandos and rescuing Allied soldiers, until it disappeared during a mission in 1942. Eighty-four submariners were killed when the HMS Triumph sank.

The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales coming in to moor at Singapore in 1941
The Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales coming in to moor at Singapore in 1941

Malaysia detains Chinese ship suspected of looting two British WWII wrecks

Malaysia's maritime authorities have detained a Chinese-flagged cargo ship amid reports this month that scavengers targeted two British World War Two wrecks off the coast of Malaysia—the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse—which were sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1941.

An inspection of the cargo ship led to the discovery of old steel and cannon shells believed to have been scavenged from the HMS Prince of Wales. The shells could be linked to a separate seizure by police at a Johor jetty last week of multiple unexploded World War II-era artillery.

USS Mannert L. Abele off the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 1 August 1944
USS Mannert L. Abele off the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, 1 August 1944

Wreck site off Japan identified as World War II US destroyer

USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), was an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer of the United States Navy, which was launched on 23 April 1944. On 12 April 1945, the Mannert L. Abele was operating 75 miles off the northern coast of Okinawa when enemy aircraft appeared on radar.

USS Albacore
A row of vent holes along the top of the superstructure, and the absence of steel plates along the upper edge of the fairwater allowed NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) to confirm the wreck site finding as Albacore.

Wreck site identified as World War II submarine USS Albacore

(Photo credit, top image: US Naval Institute Photo Archive)

The US Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) confirmed the identity of a wreck site off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, as USS Albacore (SS 218). The NHHC made the announcement on Thursday, after several months of examining Japanese surveys conducted on the site in 2022.

Awakening the Past: Reimagining Kavieng's Ghosts of the Machines

Photogrammetry image of the wreck of a Nakajima “Kate” B5N fighter-bomber in Kavieng. Image by Sean Twomey
Photogrammetry image of the wreck of a Nakajima “Kate” B5N fighter-bomber in Kavieng, by Sean Twomey

There is a huge potential for wreck photogrammetry in Kavieng and the neighbouring large island of New Hanover in Papua New Guinea, for it is here that one can find several notable wrecks of WWII aircraft. Don Silcock shares his experience working with technical expert Sean Twomey in an initiative to capture photogrammetry imagery of the wrecks before they succumb to the ravages of time and eventually disappear.