The private Chinese ship Chuan Hong 68 with the help of a large dredging crane collects scrap metal from the wreckage of the British battleship HMS Prince Of Wales and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, which were sunk by Japanese bombers on December 10, 1941 off the east coast of modern Malaysia, killing 840 sailors. In London, it was called an "act of vandalism."

In China, sunken British ships are allowed to metal in 1941. Photo: New Straits Times.

It is reported by the US Naval Institute (USNI).

In 2002, the British government declared the wreckage an official military grave, which is generally accepted international practice for the dead ships.

The National Museum of the British Navy called on the government to develop a national program to protect sunken British ships from similar looting around the world.

"We are saddened and concerned by the apparent vandalism for the personal gain of HMS Prince Of Wales and HMS Repulse. They are marked as war graves. We are saddened by the loss of the naval legacy and the impact it has had on understanding the history of our Royal Navy," the statement said.

The Chinese are interested in "high-quality steel", from which sunken ships were made at one time. The value of this metal lies in the fact that it was smelted and then turned out to be securely hidden under water even before the era of nuclear weapons and its numerous tests. Such "pure" non-radioactive steel is especially valued in the manufacture of some scientific and medical equipment.

The vessel has been operating off the east coast of present-day Malaysia since the start of this year, news outlets reported.

In addition to British warships, in the same waters off Indonesia and Singapore are the wreckage of 40 Australian, Dutch and Japanese warships and merchant ships that were destroyed.

We will remind, among the wreckage of the "Titanic" found a lost necklace (video).

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