Colombo, April 1 (newsin.asia) – A British war ship, ‘SS Sagaing’ which sank in Trincomalee Harbour, in Sri Lanka’s east, during World War II, was re-floated after 75 years, after a stay underwater, by a team of divers from the Sri Lanka Navy, the navy media unit said in a statement.
The 138 meter long passenger cum cargo ship launched on Dec 24, 1924 and belonged to Her Majesty’s Naval Service.
It was hit by Japanese carrier air craft bomber attacks whilst at anchorage in Trincomalee harbour on April 9, 1942 and subsequently abandoned due to escalating fire on board.
On Aug. 24, 1943, the damaged ship had been sunk to be used as a pier for Naval Ships.
“Sri Lanka Navy resorted to re-float the wreck which was fully submerged 35 feet under the sea in order to make sea room for expanding berthing facilities in the harbour. The task of salvaging and removing the ship wreck was assigned to Eastern Naval Command,” the navy said.
The salvage operation took several months.