Fourteen ships are to be protected as war graves under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Evidence has emerged of trade in artefacts raised from the ships. The wrecks will be designated as Protected Places, whereby divers can still visit the ships on a 'look but don't touch' basis. The jurisdiction of the law extends to British divers and British-flagged vessels. The Government announced its intention on 31 May, the 60th anniversary of the battle. As the announcement was made, the British destroyer HMS Edinburgh and German frigate FGS Hessen met at the site of the battle for a service of commemoration and to lay wreaths in memory of some 8650 British and German dead. A commemorative exhibition, prepared by London's Imperial War Museum, has opened aboard HMS Belfast, moored on the River Thames between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Ghosts of Jutland documents the battle experiences and lives of participants through oral history, artefacts, documents and film. The exhibition includes a hologram of Henry Allingham, the battle's last known survivor who, at 109, is also thought to be Britain's oldest man. Allingham, from Eastbourne in Sussex, attended the exhibition's launch. Related links
HMS Belfast website |
