Mystery as WW2 Royal Navy World shipwrecks DISAPPEAR from sea bed
THE WRECKS of three British ships sunk during World War Two have mysteriously vanished from the bottom of the Java Sea, sonar images have revealed.
The boats have simply vanished from the seabed
The Royal Navy vessels have disappeared alongside the wrecks of Dutch destroyers which went down in a major battle against the Japanese.
There has been speculation that heartless metal thieves may have raided the wrecks - which are war graves - although experts have cast doubt on how they would have done this.
The ships were sunk by the Japanese during the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942 and went undiscovered for decades until being found again in 2002.
During the ferocious battle, Japanese forces overpowered Dutch, British, Americana and Australian sailors.
The authorities say they will investigate what happened to the ships
Now, researchers revisiting the site were distraught to discover that the wrecks have almost completely disappeared with those of HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter having been completely removed.
Dutch Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis said: “The wrecks bear silent witness to the the tragic events and form a backdrop to the many stories about the terrors of war and the comradeship between crew.”
The ships may have been salvaged for their steel
A Ministry Of Defence spokesperson said: "Many lives were lost during this battle and we would expect that these sites are respected and left undisturbed without the express consent of the United Kingdom."
There are many sunken ships and submarines in the seas around Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia and it is illegal under international law to raid the war graves for steel, aluminium and brass.
The three missing wrecks were located 70 metres deep and 60 miles off the coast of Indonesia, meaning it would have taken a mammoth operation to completely strip the wrecks of their metals.
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The Indonesian Navy said they were unaware of the disappearances but said they would investigate.
Navy spokesman Colonel Gig Sipasulta said: "To say that the wreckage had gone suddenly, doesn't make sense,"
"It is underwater activities that can take months even years."
In 2015, it was revealed that large boats from outside Malaysia carrying groups of divers are illegally scavenging for scrap metal from ships sunk during the Second World War.
An expedition had been sent to the Java Sea to take video footage of the underwater Dutch ships before the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Java Sea.