Experts announced on Monday that nine ships sunk during World War I by German torpedoes have been discovered off the coasts of Morocco. This is the latest of a series of wartime shipwrecks to be found.
According to the Assalam Association for the Protection of Maritime Heritage (a non-profit organization focused on preserving archaeological sites underwater in the region), the nine wrecks, which include Japanese and Norwegian vessels, are located all along the southern coast of Morocco.
The association didn’t say if it could identify the ships, but it posted a video on social media of a news report showing historical photos of different ships and divers searching for artifacts at the bottom of the ocean.
The association stated, “German submarines attacked commercial and military vessels of allies, resulting in many ships being lost off the southern provinces.”
The association reported that it had sent information about the location of shipwrecks and a detailed report on the characteristics of each vessel to the relevant authorities.
Researchers discovered the wrecks more than 10 years after the discovery of the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse – a famous German vessel that was sunk off the coasts of Dakhla and Morocco during World War I.
In recent months, other shipwrecks dating back to World War I were discovered all over the world. In November, officials from the English military announced that the HMS Hawke was confirmed as the wreckage discovered off the coasts of Scotland. The British cruiser had been sunk in World War I by a torpedo, killing over 500 crewmembers.
A month earlier, an expedition ship discovered the German World War I Supply Ship Titania off the coasts of Chile.
A company that operates offshore wind farms discovered a shipwreck in September of last year, that is believed to be SS Tobol, a vessel from World War I.
