Men Charged In Connection With 'Theft' From Sunken Royal Navy Warship

Two men have been charged in connection with an alleged theft of historical artifacts from a sunken Royal Navy warship.

Nigel Ingram and John Blight were charged following an investigation by Kent Police into the alleged theft from HMS Hermes.

Both men were charged with three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose items of wreck to the Receiver of Wreck with intent to make gain.

Mr Blight faced an added charge of being in possession of £16,000 worth of criminal property.

Hermes was a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s.

The ship was sunk by a German submarine in the Dover Straight in 1914. 44 lives were lost.

She served as a flagship for a number of foreign stations before being assigned to the reserve Third Fleet, and later was modified to become the first experimental seaplane carrier in the Navy.

Hermes was recommissioned for the First World War in August 1914 but was sunk just two months later.

Kent Police's Rural Taskforce launched an investigation into the alleged theft from the ship in 2015 after a number of items were reported missing.

Both of the men have been bailed and will appear before Margate magistrates on March 2.

Cover image courtesy: Frankfurt am Main University / Wikipedia

More - HMS Hermes To Sail Into The Sunset