THE war graves of 840 Royal Navy sailors have been desecrated by Chinese scavengers.
A scrap metal barge illegally dragged up pieces of wreckage from sunken World War Two ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.
The vessel, with a giant crane, was spotted by fishermen who tried to confront it but were chased off by scrappers a speedboat[/caption]
The vessels were struck by Japanese torpedo bombers off the coast of Malaysia two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The wrecks are designated British war grave sites and are supposed to be protected.
Photos obtained by The Sun show the huge dredger Chuan Hong 68 in the area.
She sails under a Chinese flag and was previously linked to illegal salvage operations.
The vessel, with a giant crane, was spotted by fishermen who tried to confront it but were chased off by scrappers a speedboat.
Diver Hazz Zain, who helps to protect the wrecks, said: “The barge was being circled by a small boat.
“I alerted the enforcement agencies.”
Malaysian heritage authorities and local police vowed to probe the intrusion.
A scrapyard where some metal has been offloaded has been raided by cops in Johor.
Pictures from the yard appear to show an anchor, a naval gun and large amounts of unexploded ammunition.
Former Sea Lord Admiral Lord West previously moved to try to protect the wrecks — ordering the salvage of Wales’ bell after it was targeted by scavengers.
He told The Sun: “They are war graves — in our waters we look after them, but in someone else’s waters they have to look after them.
“It’s extremely worrying — the Malaysians said they would look after them.
“I’ve had letters from relatives of those lost on the ships.
“To think someone is ripping up the metal where bodies lay, it has a huge impact on the next of kin.”
Police chief Datuk Kamarul said: “An investigation has started.
“British authorities have been informed.”
The Ministry of Defence said: “We strongly condemn any desecration of any maritime military grave.”
Battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were part of Force Z – trying to intercept the Japanese who were preparing to invade the then colony of Malaya (now Malaysia).
Winston Churchill called news of the double sinking the most “direct shock” he had in all of World War Two.
The war graves of the Royal Navy sailors are located in the South China Sea[/caption]
