Maritime War Graves

Decodiver

We all dive for varying reasons, as diverse no doubt, as divers themselves.

As an ex-Serviceman, I feel proud of the sacrifice made by our forefathers.

I love wrecks, but I see no need to publish macabre images of human remains.

Would I penetrate a wreck? Absolutely!

Would I move human remains to do so? Absolutely not!

I have come across human remains in the past, I treated them with respect and withdrew without disturbing them and never went back.

We need to remember what these extremely brave chaps did, and I believe that by visiting these wrecks we do so.

There will always be individuals who will act badly.

It is, however, important, not to tar everyone with the same brush.

Cheers,

Dave Cooper.

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Rebreather World Terms & Conditions

Dave1w

I don't agree with your statement above. With regard to at least these two wrecks, this wasn't some sort of bus carrying them, it was a home / fortress / life to the people on board. The whole story behind their loss is a tradegy that links human loss with the death of the battleship.

I haven't really sorted out my feelings for diving wrecks here people lost their lives, but examples such as the POW and Repulse do have a much stronger meaning than most, for me at least.

I am out this side of the world, and sooner or later hope to end up diving them, but really to visit and pay respects, not to penetrate and get a thrill.

Dave

Deepwreck

Penetrating a wreck isn't something done lightly. The dark, silty enviornment is apt to kill you if you don't keep watch of what your doing. For those trained to dive deep wrecks (where human remains are) the thrill isn't cheating death. For an individual who wants to see these historical artifacts intact, before time removes there vary existance from the sea floor, lots of time and money must be invested in training and complex life support equipment to even get close, let alone spend any real time exploring them. Divers of this caliber are not (in all my experience) the ones who would treat lightly another persons remains be them from years gone by or from a resent accident.

I personaly love to dive wrecks, and I like the musium quality to the experience. The history comes alive as I swim around whats left of once intact ships. I know that regarless of size it's only a matter of time before nothing will be left to mark the spot (exept bronze & copper), and that will be under lost of silt and sand.

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Deepthought

From a personal standpoint I have to disagree with the earlier statement about these vessels not being a monument to the men who served on them.

I have dived a few wrecks and always appreciate the beauty, silence and serenity. There is a certain poignancy and contrast between the former strength and the tranquility and fragility as nature softly and imperceptably takes over. I would say that makes for a pretty good monument.

As divers we have the opportunity to visit where many are unable - if we do so responsibly then perhaps suitable photo's are a tangible memorial for those who can't - a valuable link to their past.

I recall a diver in Malta who was very keen to visit the Maori as his Grandfather had served aboard.

I am also appauled at the way some of these sites are treated, for example the Thistlegorm...

Given the high price that these servicemen paid for our freedom, we owe it to them to use that freedom, but we also owe it to ourselves to use it responsibly and respectfully.

onetime

While I respect the OP's dedication to cause, I would have hoped that a first post would be structured for discourse rather than lecture. Certainly there are divers who disturb remains but I believe these are the minority rather than the majority. Pictures do no harm to the resting place and, while I certainly understand that some would prefer not to see any such pictures, they don't have to seek them out either.

A law will do very little good as those disturbing remains are not likely to abide by these laws, especially since they would be nearly impossible to enforce.

I guess the thing that bothers me about the position of no visitation is the fact that so many land based locations are dedicated to such visits. Whether they be battlefields, burial grounds, or shipwrecks.