Legal status of wreck?

pcolaboy

Hero Member
Sep 5, 2006
916
14
Pensacola, Fl
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer XS
Voldbjerg said:
If a Navy scuttles a ship by burning it will the wreck then be considered legally abandoned?

/V

Whoa...that's a very good question....never thought of that one. Hopefully someone will know.

Pcola
 

Saturna

Bronze Member
May 24, 2008
1,373
10
Nanaimo, B.C. Canada
Detector(s) used
White's 4900 DL Max, Tesoro Deleon
From what I've read, the (U.S.) Navy always retains ownership of it's ships/planes.

There could have been a military reason for scuttling a ship. I don't see how they would ever consider it abandoned, even if purposely burned or sunk.

Dos pesos de Mio...

Jay
 

wwwtimmcp

Bronze Member
Sep 22, 2007
1,666
55
wakeman, ohio
Detector(s) used
J.W.FISHERS pulse 8x
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
I know the navy sells off old or surplus ships, so they technically dont always own them.
 

ScubaFinder

Bronze Member
Jul 11, 2006
2,220
528
Tampa, FL
Detector(s) used
AquaPulse AQ1B - AquaPulse DX-200 Magnetometer
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
I tried to work with the Navy on some submerged aircraft and was stonewalled by the "always retains ownership" idea. Recently someone posted some good info here on going through some sort of US Navy Historical Office. Find that post, there was some contact info in it.
 

Salvor6

Silver Member
Feb 5, 2005
3,754
2,167
Port Richey, Florida
Detector(s) used
Aquapulse, J.W. Fisher Proton 3, Pulse Star II, Detector Pro Headhunter, AK-47
Primary Interest:
Shipwrecks
A good example is the U.S.S. Dexter, a navy cutter sold to a private towing company after more than 30 years of service. The Dexter sank off Panama City, FL in 1926 and now divers are legally recovering artifacts with "U.S.S. Dexter" engraved on it.
 

ivan salis

Gold Member
Feb 5, 2007
16,794
3,809
callahan,fl
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
once sold to a private company it is no longer us govt property -- but otherwize if its not been "offically" sold it us govt / navy property ---if a vessel was donated to be a "reef" I think it might be a sticky legal mess to try and remove any parts for fear of charges of destroying the artifical "reef" --- now vessels sold to private bussinesses and later lost at sea -- those wrecks most likely "offically" belong to the ships insurance co, who paid for its loss -- but it would most likely be thought of as abandoned by now by most folks esp if it site has been known for some time and no recovery op was done --frankly most of the time its simply not worth the insurance co time / money to do salvage -- so the wrecks are just left there -- these are just the type of wrecks that sports divers love to find and get a "trophy" from.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top