Zitat:German WWI wreck Scharnhorst discovered off Falklands

The wreck of a World War One German armoured cruiser has been located off the Falkland Islands, where it was sunk by the British navy 105 years ago.

SMS Scharnhorst was the flagship of German Vice-Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron. It was sunk on 8 December 1914 with more than 800 men on board, including Vice-Adm von Spee himself. [...] The search for SMS Scharnhorst began five years ago, on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands, but was not successful at first. [...]

Search teams resumed their operation this year using a subsea vessel, the Seabed Constructor, and four autonomous underwater vehicles. They found SMS Scharnhorst on the third day of the search, at a depth of 1,610 m (5,282 ft).

The wreck was not disturbed during the operation and the Falkland Maritime Heritage Trust is seeking to have the site formally protected in law. SMS Scharnhorst was part of the East Asia Squadron, the Imperial German Navy's cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean until the outbreak of World War One in 1914.