Warships sunk during Guadalcanal
January 2nd, 2009 From
>Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 16:52:43 -0800
>From: Mike Potter
>Organization: Artecon, Inc.
>X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (WinNT; I)
>To: mahan@microworks.net
>Subject: Re: Warships sunk during Guadalcanal
>Precendence: bulk
>Sender: mahan-owner@microworks.net
>Reply-To: mahan@microworks.net
>
>This might be insoluble. Warship wrecks contain not only dense oil but
>also lots of deteriorating ammunition. Jostling a wreck might set some
>of it off.
>
>When they capsized, HMS =Audacious= and HMS =Barham= both suffered
>magazine explosions. I would think the phenomenon resulted from shell
>movement, although it might be unique to 1914-era British ammunition.
>
>Was potential shifting of ammunition a consideration in the salvage of
>wrecks such as USS Oklahoma from Pearl Harbor? Has Norway, even with
>national wealth and a lot of maritime engineering expertise, ever
>figured out how to deal with the Nazi heavy cruiser =Blucher= on the
>bottom of Oslofjord?
>
>Tom Lewis wrote:
> >
> > According to an article in this week’s Navy News (Australia), the hulks are
> > leaking oil and killing off local fishlife and coral. The government there
> > are appealling to the governments who “own” the ships for help.
> >
> > Tom Lewis, Lieutenant
> > Maritime Historian,
> > Headquarters Northern Command,
> > Darwin, Northern Territory,
> > Australia 0800.
> >
> > Ph: 08 89 802552 (b), 08 89 451123(h), fax: 08 89 455130
> > Mailto:lewist@peg.apc.org
> >
> > >This came up from the depths:
> > >>>From Janes Defense Weekly, 5 Nov 1997:
> > >>
> > >>”Prime Minister Bartholomew Uluf’alu of the Solomon Islands
> > >>has appealed to the USA and Japan for assistance to clean up
> > >>the wreckage of more than 50 warship sunk nears the islands
> > >>during the battle of Guadalcanal and other WWII battles.”