The V-1302 John Mahn sank in 1942 and is still leaking toxic chemicals and heavy metals into the North Sea. A World War Two shipwreck is leaking hazardous chemicals into the North Sea 80 years after it sank. A fishing trawler requisitioned by Nazi Germany’s navy, the V-1302 John Mahn was sunk by British bombers in 1942. The vessel was attacked during Operation Cerberus – also known as the ‘Channel Dash’ – a convoy mission of more than 200 ships to escort the Nazi cruiser Prinz Eugen and the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau from Brittany through the English Channel to German ports. V-1302 John Mahn has remained at the bottom of the North Sea off Belgium since then, leaking heavy metals and explosives. Josefien Van Landuyt and her colleagues from Ghent University have found traces of arsenic, nickel and copper in samples taken from the wreck’s hull and the surrounding sea bed. The team also recovered PAHs. These are a group of chemicals found in fossil fuels. (…) PAH-degrading microbes like Rhodobacteraceae and Chromatiaceae have been found by the team in the samples showing the highest pollution levels. Ms Van Landuyt said the pollution coming from the V-1302 John Mahn is “relatively minor”, which allows the wreck to act as an artificial reef and nursery for fish. However, she warned thousands of other wrecks and downed aircraft from the war could be leaking greater amounts of toxic materials into the North Sea. She said: “Some of these ships… were hit while they were still packed full of munitions.”
via express: Nazi shipwreck is still leaking toxic chemicals into North Sea 80 years after sinking