On August 24, 2016, an Anglo-Danish team found the wreck of armored cruiser HMS Warrior in the northern North Sea in 83 meters of water where it sank in 1916 following the Battle of Jutland in 1916. HMS Warrior is last wreck of the ships sunk during from the Battle of Jutland to be located. Now, the challenge is to protect the wreck of the Warrior and other ships from illegal metal scavengers who are believed to have pillaged up to half of the wrecks from the battle. Based on Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) video footage, (see below) HMS Warrior remains largely intact and untouched, overturned on the ocean floor.
HMS Warrior was a 505′ long armored cruiser commissioned in 1906. The ship was heavily damaged by the German shells during the battle. After withdrawing to the west, on fire and flooding, HMS Warrior was taken under tow by the seaplane tender, HMS Engadine, who took off her 675 surviving crew. Despite the best efforts to get her to port, Warrior sank on June 1, 1916.
The wreck of the Warrior was discovered between Scotland and Norway on August 24 by JD-Contractor Survey vessel M/S Vina during a survey of the seabed on behalf of Sea War Museum Jutland. The hull is keel up on the bottom and is reported to be well preserved.
The Daily Mail reports: A spokesman for the museum said: ‘Unlike the other wrecks from the Battle of Jutland, which show varying degrees of environmental damage and commercial salvage, HMS Warrior remains as an untouched time capsule with all of its contents still present, entombed in the upturned hull.
‘The old armoured ship is for now, at least retaining its itegrity and is the last Jutland wreck in an untouched condition.’
The spokesman added: ‘The find was made on an expedition with M/S Vina from JD-Contractor for Sea War Museum in Thyborøn in collaboration with Dr Innes McCartney of Bournemouth University.
There is a real concern that HMS Warrior might be threatened by metal scavengers now that the wreck has been located. The wrecks are nominally protected covered by the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, but the British Ministry of Defence has been criticized for a lack of enforcement.
Thanks to Tony Seideman for contributing to this post.