Three World War 1 sunk UK warships discovered off Estonia coast
August 24th, 2010 - 11:09 am ICT by ANILondon, Aug.24 (ANI): An Estonian naval vessel has found the wrecks of three British warships that were sunk by the Germans after the end of World War One.
The damaged HMS Cassandra, HMS Gentian and HMS Myrtle were found near the island of Saaremaa about 90 miles south-west of Estonian capital Tallinn.
According to The Scotsman, the three vessels were part of a British squadron sent to the Baltic in 1918-19 to deliver arms to Estonia, which was fighting for independence against both Bolsheviks and German troops.
The Cassandra sank on December 6, 1918 after hitting a mine, killing ten sailors. The remaining crew of 400 was evacuated. Minesweepers Gentian and Myrtle both sank on July 15, 1919, while on routine missions, with the loss of nine sailors.
The wrecks lie at depths of up to 300feet. The Estonian navy said the wrecks legally belong to Britain. (ANI)
- Treasure hunter finds $3bn-worth platinum in shipwreck - Feb 02, 2012
- Ilves to be sworn in as Estonia's president - Oct 10, 2011
- Estonians haul 20,000-tonne ship, set world record - May 21, 2011
- British woman becomes first warship commander - May 22, 2012
- Hundreds of bars of silver rescued from WWII shipwreck - Jul 19, 2012
- Connery gets bronze statue in Estonia - Jan 28, 2011
- Estonian charged with spying for Russia - Feb 23, 2012
- NATO plans to defend Baltic States from Russian military agression: Wikileaks - Dec 07, 2010
- Members of anti-Soviet resistance group found in Estonian mass grave - Aug 26, 2011
- 50 tonnes of silver recovered from sea - Jul 20, 2012
- British shipwreck containing $3 bn treasure found (Lead, changing dateline) - Feb 02, 2012
- Britain to deploy warship in South Atlantic - Feb 01, 2012
- India to order eight minesweepers from South Korea - Apr 17, 2011
- Indian Navy foils pirate attack on Chinese vessel - May 06, 2011
- George Bush to get Estonian Order for expanding NATO - Feb 02, 2012
Tags: 1918, baltic, bolsheviks, british squadron, british warships, capital tallinn, cassandra, gentian, german troops, germans, hms, missions, naval vessel, navy, saaremaa, sailors, scotsman, world war 1, world war one, wrecks