Absolutly disgusting

[Gunny Hartmann]

Well at least the Australian govt preserved one of the three buggers

Love your angry cat avatar mate!...

[geelong]

the items might pop up on webay. sad and why, whats the point, theres no point. it all should be left alone. ashes to ashes dust to dust. no need to stir there grave up too. But sad for the loses of one of the boats that was torpedoed. But thoses japanese were brave to get were they did.

[davesap250]

Greed and lack of respect fortunately characteristics that are not found in every human being . We have a big problem with metal theft over here. There have been numerous brass plaques taken off memorials and sold for scrap. If only we could catch them at it.

[TrondK]

There are a person in the Norwegian collectors community that has used metal detector to steal alot of old archeological items from clearly marked medevial graveyards and churches several times. The police didnt give any hard punishment when he and his ratfriends where caught one of the times, when desperate neighbours started to watch their churches when they saw people where digging into the graves of their ancestors during the night. Today he has ruined very important parts of unknown historical the future for our children, as the spineless rodent he still is.

Today this thief is active and among us (on the other forum) and play his backstabbing game acting as a "serious collector". So beware of who you trust, even on internet.


Sorry for hijacking the thread, just wanted to let you know that the thiefs/rodents are infact reading these forums.

[KriegMann]

Absolutely terrible people.

[Danmark]

The M24 is actually NOT in Sydney Harbour - someone got their facts wrong and the rest of the papers copied the story. It lies in the ocean off Bungan Head, Newport, off the beaches north of the harbour. The submarine is entangled in nets 54 metres below on the seabed so I guess the long range cameras have a hard job focusing in on a ship on the sea acting suspiciously.

This doesn't detract from the enormity of the crime .... just correcting the facts.
Dan

[kiwiwreckdiver]

Very sad indeed, giving the rest of us scuba divers a bad name, but with the rarity of the objects they will surface again.
Hopefully they aren't muppets and do some freshwater preservation on the parts, or else by the time they are found they will be just another pile of chalk and rust.
When this was found I was pro Recovery, these brave men died for their country, burry them with honour, their loved ones or comrades.
Recover the sub and have it displayed in a worthy museum after a professional recovery and restoration.
Now like most other wrecks in the Asia and pacific region they are all being scrapped, ripped apart and devalued by human magpies after a quick buck or souvenir.

[m3bobby]

I was all for leaving such wrecks on the sea bed as war graves (Same as buried crashed aircraft) but as nothing is safe or sacosanct these days what can anyone do other than preserve whats left, and if that means recovering the remains of these guys and letting them rest in piece in a military cemetary then thats what must be done.

[DioMac]

the items might pop up on webay. sad and why, whats the point, theres no point. it all should be left alone. ashes to ashes dust to dust. those japs got what was comming to them. no need to stir there grave up too.

It's been said before, but I'm going to say it again so you understand.

The use of the term 'japs' is offensive and frowned upon in this day and age. We are not in 1942. It would have taken you an extra 1.5 seconds to type 'anese'.

Show some respect please.

[Scout]

Disgusting behaviour (robbing items from the subs).

Most likely the relics will go straight to some ruthless collector who may even have 'commisioned' the theft - I doubt such items will show up on the bay.

The stolen prop blades may have been made of some kind of bronze alloy made for naval use thus be in excellent condition, as they would have withstood the test of time well.

A very interesting thread - thanks for posting. I never heard about these before.

Danmark - great, that you were able to clarify the postition. As you quite correctly state, it doesnt detract an iota from story of the subs nor the thread.

Mini-subs are a fascinating subject - from the Hunley over Maiales to Chariots and now these.

I remember reading, that some of what was previously thought to be torpedoes dropped by Japanese planes durning the attack on Pearl, were in fact thought to be tracks from attacking mini-subs within the harbour itself. Fascinating, if true.