Two men have been charged in connection with the removal of items from the wreck of a Royal Navy battlecruiser sunk by a German U-boat in World War I.

John Blight and Nigel Ingram are accused of failing to declare to authorities objects that were taken from HMS Hermes in the Strait of Dover.

The warship, sunk off the coast of Calais by U-27 soon after the start of the war in October 1914, was fitted to carry sea planes, making it the Navy's first prototype aircraft carrier.

The wreck was designated a protected site because of the 44 people who died when it sank, but it is well documented on diving websites.

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Officers from Kent Police's rural task force launched an investigation in August 2015 after being informed that a number of historical artefacts had been reported missing from the wreck."


Blight, 57, of Winchelsea, East Sussex, has been charged with three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose items of wreck to the Receiver of Wreck with intent to make a gain.

Ingram, 56, of Teynham, Kent, has been charged with the same three counts in addition to being in possession of £16,000 worth of criminal property.

Both men have been bailed to appear at Margate Magistrates' Court on 2 March.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Marine Management Organisation, the Receiver of Wreck, Sussex Police, Historic England and French authorities were all involved in the investigation.

Under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, any wreck of a military vessel lost after 4 August, 1914, is designated protected if it represents the last resting place of servicemen or has been disturbed.

The act, which applies to UK-based vessels or citizens, makes it an offence to disturb the site or remove anything from it and applies to sites anywhere in the world.