SS Sagaing vessel sunk in World War II - re-floated by Navy and sunk again

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - The shipwreck of one of the famous World War II vessels of Her Majesty’s Naval Service (HMNS), 'SS Sagaing' was re-floated after 75 years by the Sri Lanka Navy. SS Sagaing caught fire and sank at Trincomalee harbor following a Japanese attack. The re-floating of the HMNS SS Sagaing is a landmark turning point in the field of diving and salvage. The 138 m long passenger Cargo Ship was hit by Japanese carrier aircraft bomber attacks whilst anchored at the Trincomalee harbor on 09^th of April 1942. It was subsequently abandoned due to escalating fire on board. On 24^th August 1943, the damaged ship had been sunken 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 harbor. The task of salvaging and removing the shipwreck was assigned to the Eastern Naval Command. Later, a comprehensive selvage plan was launched to patch up all damages and strengthen up the ship's structural parts. After a series of dedicated endeavor made along a period of five months, the wreck began to surface on March 22. Yesterday (March 30) the vessel was sunk back into the seas off the harbor in order to preserve it. https://www.facebook.com/NewsfirstSL/videos/1895633227163593/