Protection of Military Remains Act

The Protection of Military Remains Act is a 1986 by the British Parliament enacted law , the wrecks of military aircraft and warships is under protection. In the background is the thought that such wrecks must enjoy public protection as war graves or naval war graves .

The law prohibits unauthorized attacks on the wreckage and wreckage of crashed, sunken or stranded military aircraft and warships, regardless of whether the loss resulted in deaths or whether it occurred in times of peace or war. All crashed aircraft are automatically under protection, while ships must be individually named and placed under protection. Knowledge of the location of the wreck is not necessary for the protection status, it is sufficient to disclose the name. The law extends to all British warships and aircraft (including in international waters, although this is not enforceable) and warships of any nationality in British territorial waters. Therefore, three wrecks of German warships are currently protected by the law.

There are two levels of protection:

• Protected places are all wrecks of crashed aircraft and all wrecks of warships that have been lost since August 4, 1914 (the beginning of the First World War ). While aircraft wrecks automatically receive this status, a shipwreck must be individually named in order to be placed under protection. Diving is permitted in a “protected place”, but it is forbidden to penetrate the interior of such a wreck, remove objects or carry out rescue operations. At the moment 46 wrecks in British and international waters, in addition to British warships and three German submarines ( U 12 , U 714 and UB 65 ), are placed under protection as “Protected Places”.

• Controlled sites are defined areas with the remains of a military aircraft or warship that has been lost over the past 200 years. In one of the protected areas, it is forbidden to dive without a permit and to touch, modify or penetrate the remains of the wreck or to carry out excavations and salvage. De facto it is a total diving ban, only occasionally broken by special permits. Ships, the sinking of which has claimed numerous victims, or wrecks where human remains are or could be exposed have been declared a “controlled site”. At the moment, 11 British warships in British and international waters as well as the German submarine UB 81 are placed under protection as "Controlled Sites".

In 2006 and 2007 there was a lively public discussion in Great Britain as well as legal disputes over the question of whether civilian ships sunk as a result of the war can and should enjoy protection under the Protection of Military Remains Act. It was sparked by the efforts of a sibling couple to put the wreck of the SS Storaa under protection, the sinking of which her father was killed in 1943. The British Ministry of Defense initially refused to extend the protection to civilian shipwrecks, but in April 2007 placed the wreck of the Storaa under protection as a "Protected Place" after a final ruling by the High Court . In diving circles it is now feared that diving at numerous wrecks will be restricted or banned entirely.

Protected Places (alphabetical)

• HMS Acheron , destroyer,sunk by mines offthe Isle of Wight in 1940, 151 dead.
• HMS Amphion , light cruiser ,sunkoff Harwich in1914 after being hit by a mine , 169 dead, including 18 German prisoners of war.
• HMS Ardent , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916.
• Atlantic Conveyor , cargo ship charteredby the Royal Navy ,sunkafter a rocket hit in1982 during the Falklands War , 12 dead.
• HMS Black Prince , armored cruiser,exploded and sunk after German artillery hitsduring the Skagerrak Battle in 1916, 857 dead.
• HMS Blackwood , frigate,torpedoed and sunkoff the coast of Dorset in 1944by the German submarine U 764 , 58 dead.
• HMS Boadicea , destroyer,sunk by a German air raid in1944 off Portland , Dorset , 175 dead.
• HMS Bullen , destroyer, in 1944 off Cape Wrath , Scotland ,torpedoed and sunkby the German submarine U 775 , 175 dead.
• HMS Curacoa , light cruiser, sunk in 1942 in a collision with the passenger ship RMS Queen Mary off the north coast of Ireland , 338 dead.
• HMS Defense , armored cruiser,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916, 903 dead.
• HMS Delight , destroyer,damaged by German air raidsnear the Isle of Portland in 1940and sunk in the port of Portland, 6 dead.
• HMS Exmoor , destroyer,torpedoed and sunk by a German speedboatoff Lowestoft in 1941, 104 dead.
• HMS Fortune , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916.
• HMS Gloucester , cruiser, sunk in the Mediterranean near Antikythera in 1941after being hit by a bomb, 756 dead.
• HMS Gurkha , destroyer, sunk by mines off Dungeness in1917, 75 dead.
• HMS Hood , battle cruiser , sunk in 1941 in the Denmark Strait after an artillery hit by the German battleship Bismarck , 1,418 dead.
• HMS Indefatigable , battle cruiser ,sunk in1916 during the Skagerrak Battle after German artillery hits by ammunition chamber explosion, 1,017 dead.
• HMS Invincible , battle cruiser ,sunk in1916 during the Skagerrak Battle after German artillery hits by ammunition chamber explosion, 1,026 dead.
• HMS K4 , submarine, sunk in 1918 during the so-called Battle of the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth after collisions with the sister ships K6 and K7 , 56 dead
• HMS K17 , submarine, sunk in 1918 during the so-called Battle of the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth after colliding with the cruiser HMS Fearless , 47 dead.
• HMS Loyalty , minesweepers , 1944 at Portsmouth by the German submarine U 480 torpedoed and sunk 20 dead.
• HMS L24 , submarine,sunk in an accidentoff Portland in1924, 36 dead.
• HMS M1 , submarine, sunk off the coast of Devon in 1925after colliding with the freighter SS Vidar , 69 dead.
• HMS M2 , submarine catapult ship,sunk in an accidentoff the Isle of Portland in 1932, 60 dead.
• HMS Nestor , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916.
• HMS Nomad , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916.
• HMS Penlyan , destroyer, sunk at Start Point in 1942by the German speedboat S 115 , 38 dead.
• HMS Prince of Wales , battleship,sunk by Japanese bombersoff Malaysia in 1941, 327 dead.
• HMS Queen Mary , battle cruiser ,sunk in1916 during the Battle of the Skagerrak after German artillery hits by ammunition chamber explosion, 1,257 dead.
• HMS Repulse , battle cruiser ,sunk by Japanese bombersoff Malaysia in 1941, 513 dead.
• HMS Shark , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916, 86 dead.
• HMS Sheffield , destroyer,badly damaged by rocket hitsduring the Falklands War in 1982and sunk later, 20 dead.
• RFA Sir Galahad , landing ship,badly damaged by rocketsduring the Falklands War in 1982and sunk later, 50 dead.
• HMS Sparrowhawk , destroyer,badly damaged by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916and thensunkafter a collision with HMS Brake .
• SS Storaa , armed merchant ship,sunk by a German speedboatnear Hastings in 1943, 22 dead.
• HMS Swordfish , submarine,sunknear the Isle of Wight by mines in1940, 40 dead.
• HMS Tipperary , destroyer,sunk in1916by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak , 186 dead.
• HMS Turbulent , destroyer,sunk by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916, 90 dead.
• U 12 , German submarine, probably sunk near Dover in 1939 by a mine hit, 27 dead.
• U 714 , German submarine,sunknear the Firth of Forth by depth charges in1945, 50 dead.
• UB 65 , German submarine,sunk in an accidentoff Padstow , Cornwall , in 1918, 37 dead.
• HMS Umpire , submarine, sunk in 1941 in the North Sea off Norfolk after a collision with the escort trawler HMS Peter Hendriks , 22 dead.
• HMS Vandal , submarine,sunk by accidentnear the Isle of Arran in 1943, 37 dead.
• HMS Vortigern , destroyer,torpedoed and sunk by a German speedboatoff Cromer in 1942, 147 dead.
• HMS Warrior , armored cruiser,badly damaged by German artillery hitsduring the Battle of the Skagerrak in 1916and sunk during a tow attempt.
• HMS Warwick , destroyer,torpedoed and sunkby the German submarine U 413 in 1942 off Trevose Head, Cornwall , 147 dead.

Controlled Sites (alphabetical)

• HMS A7 , submarine ,sunk in anaccident near Plymouth in 1914 , 11 dead.
• HMS Affray , submarine,sunk in an accident in 1951 , 75 dead.
• HMS Bulwark , battleship ,sunk by ammunition chamber explosionoff Sheerness in 1914, 730 dead.
• HMS Dasher , escort aircraft carrier , sunk by explosionin the Firth of Clyde in 1942 , 379 dead.
• HMS Exmouth , destroyer ,torpedoed and sunkin the Moray Firth by the German submarine U 22 in 1940 , 189 dead.
• HMS Formidable , battleship,torpedoed and sunkoff the Isle of Portland in 1914 by the German submarine U 24 , 547 dead
• HMS H5 , submarine,rammed and sunk in 1918 after being mistaken for a German submarine off Anglesey by the British merchant ship Rutherglen , 25 dead, including a United States Navy officer .
• HMS Hampshire , armored cruiser ,probablysunkby a sea ​​mine off Mainland (Orkney) in 1916 , 650 dead, including Field Marshal Lord Kitchener .
• HMS Natal , armored cruiser,sunkoff Cromarty in 1915 after an explosion, 421 dead.
• SM UB 81 , German submarine,sunk by a sea mine offthe Isle of Wight in 1917 , 29 dead.
• HMS Royal Oak , battleship,torpedoed and sunkby the German submarine U 47 in 1939 , 833 dead.
• HMS Vanguard , battleship, sunk in 1917 by ammunition chamber explosion in Scapa Flow , 677 dead.

Web links

• Office of Public Sector Information: The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2008
• divernet.com: MoD protects more wrecks