First World War sea graves hit by 'industrial-scale looting' from Royal Navy battlecruiser that was sunk by the Germans in the Battle of Jutland 

First World War sea graves have been hit by 'industrial-scale looting' from a Royal Navy battlecruiser that was sunk by the Germans in the Battle of Jutland, archaeologists have claimed.

The Ministry of Defence has been accused of not doing enough to react following allegations that the some of the 25 ships sunk in the North Sea battle are being torn apart by salvage teams.

Among the worst-hit wrecks has been that of the HMS Queen Mary, which sank during the 36-hour battle in 1916 with 1,266 aboard and has had its 30-tonne boiler room condenser taken.

Taken out of the sea: Large cordite cases on the deck of a salvage vessel, which are said to be of the British Clarkson type used for 12″ ammunition and above and taken from a battlecruiser lost at the Battle of Jutland

Salvage: A boiler room condenser that archaeologists say is a British Admiralty type from HMS Queen Mary

Battlecruiser: HMS Queen Mary was sunk with 1,266 men during the 36-hour battle in the North Sea in 1916

Explosion: HMS Lion (left) is shelled and HMS Queen Mary (right) is blown up during the Battle of Jutland

The revelations come ahead of the centenary of the First World War’s largest naval battle next week in which more than 8,000 men died off the coast of Jutland in Denmark.

Conflict archaeologist Andy Brockman has been researching the looting for the Pipeline website which has led him to believe one of the worst culprits is Dutch salvage firm Friendship Offshore BV.

He told MailOnline today: ‘We’ve been aware that the Jutland wrecks have been looted since the 1990s and that’s in spite of the fact that they’re Crown property – and remain Crown property.

‘Nobody should be touching them. Just over a year ago a colleague was approached by a source in the marine salvage business who wanted to expose what was going on.

‘The information, the pictures and our assessment of the pictures was originally taken to MoD police plus senior officials at the MoD in the hope that they might actually be goaded into doing something.

‘It then became clear that they were going to be doing absolutely nothing. There was no desire on the part of the MoD to investigate. It’s money and the resources that it would take to deal with it.’

All guns blazing: Both sides claimed victory as the Germans lost 11 ships and Britain lost 14, but the German surface fleet failed to significantly challenge the British again during the war 

36-hour fight: HMS Warspite and Malaya seen from HMS Valiant on May 31, 1916 duringthe Battle of Jutland

Going down: A German light cruiser sinks as a British destroyer can be seen in the background at the battle

‘What sets this one apart is the very particular issue of missing Royal Navy sailors and the war grave idea. This isn’t the only time that the MoD has been tripped up over this.’

JUTLAND: THE ONLY HIGH SEAS CONFLICT DURING WORLD WAR ONE

The Battle of Jutland is considered to be the only major naval battle of the First World War.

A raging conflict on the Cimbrian Peninsula saw the British Navy lose dozens of ships and thousands of men. However, it was a battle won, with the German Navy never again able to fight at sea during the war - in some way down to the loss of SMS Lützow.

German battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger at Jutland

Two years into the war and Britain had an effective blockade of Germany. Up until 1916, the German High Seas Fleet had been commanded by Admiral von Poul who was considered by many to be too passive in his approach to what the German Navy could do.

In 1916, von Poul was replaced by the far more aggressive Admiral Reinhardt von Scheer. He saw the damage the British blockade was doing to the German war effort, and decided to take action.

His plan was to lure the British fleet out of their bases and - by using submarines and surface boats - destroy them.

In May, Scheer ordered Admiral von Hipper to sea with a fleet of 40 ships. Their instruction was to move along the Danish coast - news that quickly reached Royal Navy commander Admiral Jellicoe in Rosyth.

He saw this movement of such a large force as a provocative move and ordered the Grand Fleet to put to sea. The Battle of Jutland started on May 31.

On that afternoon, the Navy - led by Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty's battle- cruiser squadrons - encountered Hipper's battle-cruiser force long before the Germans had expected. A running battle ensued, which culminated with the British vanguard being drawn into the path of the High Seas Fleet.

Retreating, the fleet lost two battle-cruisers from their force of seven and four battleships. The battleships, commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas, were the last to turn and formed a rearguard as Beatty withdrew, now drawing the German fleet in pursuit towards the main British positions. As the battle grew, the two fleets – totalling 250 ships between them – directly engaged twice.

Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk, with great loss of life; more than 6,000 on the side of the Royal Navy and 2,500 Germans.

He added that the salvagers were after copper and bronze, and it is thought that what they allegedly took between 2009 and 2010 – when prices were rising - could have been worth between £180,000 and £200,000.

The wrecks are covered under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, which makes it illegal for Britons to disturb them, and under sovereign immunity which could see overseas prosecutions being brought.

Mr Brockman continued: ‘The Queen Mary in particular saw 1,266 sailors wiped out in seconds, the largest single loss of life at Jutland. [The looting] is disrespectful.

‘And also, there’s a sense of anger at the fact that the politicians are happy to go in front of the cameras and talk about how we must show respect for the dead of the world wars, but when faced with a managerial issue like this they’ll brush it under the carpet.’

The battle which began on May 31, 1916 came after the British Grand Fleet sailed from Rosyth, Cromarty and Scapa Flow to repel the German High Seas Fleet fighting to break a British blockade.

Both sides claimed victory as the Germans lost 11 ships and Britain lost 14, but the German surface fleet failed to significantly challenge the British again during the war.

Captain Paul Quinn OBE, general secretary of the Royal Naval Association, told MailOnline today: ‘Obviously the war graves of course must remain undisturbed.

‘If this story is true and salvagers are going onto wrecks of the German or Royal Navy then they are graves and should not be disturbed.

‘Sadly this is not the first, and I doubt it will be the last time it happens. Some of this metal from these wrecks is very valuable.

‘It’s not necessarily to do with the straight scrap value, but because these ships were sunk before the nuclear age, this metal is clean in that way – it’s very valuable in medical applications.

‘Because it was protected from radiation that’s been in the atmosphere from 1944 onwards, it doesn’t have that contamination and therefore is very, very useful.

‘The simple thing is that if the ship goes down in action with sailor then it becomes a war grave and should be not touched.’

And, speaking to The Sun, marine archaeologist Innes McCartney, who wrote Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Nautical Battlefield, said of the looters: ‘They are causing untold damage.

‘The wrecks today look completely different to how they did even as recently as 2000. Fifteen wrecks, or 60 per cent of the total, manifest signs of having been industrially looted and it is an ongoing problem.’

A Navy spokesman said: ‘The Government does not condone the unauthorised disturbance of any wreck containing the war dead and works closely with governments and other authorities to prevent inappropriate activity.

‘Where we can identify items for sale from protected wrecks, the Government seeks to intervene and take possession of them.’

Friendship Offshore BV declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline for comment today.