MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protection for Falklands warship wrecks.

All the British warships sunk in the Falklands War are included in special protection measures announced by the Ministry of Defence to prevent divers from plundering the wrecks.

They are among 21 British warships which were lost in naval battles world-wide in which thousands of British servicemen lost their lives. They are to be put into two categories.

Five ships in the top category include the Royal Fleet auxiliary vessel Sir Galahad, on which 50 men were killed and many others severely burned in the Falklands conflict. Thirty -two soldiers from the First Battalion of the Welsh Guards died, along with other army personnel and RFA crewmen, when the ship was bombed by Argentine Skyhawks on June 8th, 1982, near Bluff Cove, and sank in relatively shallow water.

The wreck is to be barred to divers under a "a look but don't touch" policy, preventing divers from entering wrecks and removing items. The other four vessels in this category include some of the biggest battleships sunk in deep water in the 1939-1945 war, all in 1941, with huge loss of life: HMS Hood sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic with 1,418 men killed; HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, both sunk by Japanese bombers off Malaysia with the total loss of 827 men; and HMS Gloucester, destroyed by dive-bombers off Crete, with 736 men dead.

Four destroyers and frigates sunk by Argentine air attacks in the South Atlantic are among sixteen vessels protected by stringent rules designating them as "controlled sites" where diving without a licence will be prohibited. They are HMS Sheffield, in which 20 men were killed; HMS Coventry, with 19 dead; HMS Antelope (two dead); and HMS Ardent (22 dead). Ardent's Commander, now Chief of the British Fleet, Admiral Sir Alan West, recently paid his first official visit to the Falkland Islands where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1982.

This list of "controlled wrecks" under the new regulations includes several submarines, among them one German U-boat sunk in the Second World War nominated by Germany to represent all other German submarines lost within United Kingdom jurisdiction. Not mentioned in the list is the merchant ship, Atlantic Conveyor, also sunk in 1982 by Argentine exocet missiles, with her precious cargo of helicopters and other supplies.

"Vile and abhorrent practice"

The new protection measures were announced in