Influenced by the Age of Discovery, in our impression, shipwrecks on the seabed often symbolize countless wealth, and how many freighters full of gold and silver jewelry have sunk on the bottomless seabed. In fact, the shipwreck is divided into two kinds, one is a freighter, the other is a warship, the salvage of warships has profound historical value, we can find the details of the battle from the remaining clues. The sunken freighter can serve as evidence of the existence of civilization and the scope of cultural spread, and most importantly, the countless treasures on board can open our eyes.
Since the 19th century, European ships have been traveling to and from China's waters, and there has been frequent maritime trade with Chinese merchants. However, europeans carried away boxes of gold and silver jewelry, but brought us opium that could make people depressed. As a Japanese active during World War II, they also gained a lot during the war, and although Japan surrendered in 1945, the jewels they looted in Southeast Asia could support all the attrition during the war. However, on the eve of Japan's surrender, a "treasure ship" full of gold sank in china's waters.
The Awa Maru was Japan's latest ocean-going tanker during World War II, and in March 1945, the Awa Maru departed from Singapore with a large number of retreating Japanese, as well as 40 tons of gold, 12 tons of white gold and a large number of diamonds. In addition, the Awa Maru is said to contain the skull of a Beijinger known as the "priceless treasure". However, it was such a "treasure ship" filled with real money and silver that was found near the waters of Fujian Province in China, by the cruise us submarine "QueenFish", and then several torpedoes fired by the US military sank the Awa Maru.
Between 1977 and 1980, the sinking Awa Maru began to be salvaged. In the process of salvage, the continuous discovery of Chinese cultural relics attracted the attention of the salvage team, and for China at that time, the gold and silver jewelry on the Awa Maru undoubtedly made a huge contribution to the national economy. Under the joint salvage of the Chinese Navy and the Ministry of Communications, the true face of the Awa Maru gradually became clear, and China fished a total of 5,418 tons of tin ingots, mercury, mica and other materials from the ship, with a total value of about 50 million yuan.
In addition, China also found the bones of Japanese people on the ship, and out of humanitarian spirit, the salvage team salvaged 368 Japanese corpses intact, and after careful treatment, they were handed over to the Japanese Red Cross Society by the Shanghai Red Cross Society of China. In the eyes of the Japanese, these skeletons are "national treasures" that symbolize supreme glory, and they can let these soldiers "return to their hometowns" after 33 years, and the Hearts of the Japanese are very touched. However, Japan's next move was a big surprise.
The Japanese side first thanked our country for returning the remains of the soldiers, and then demanded 1.5 billion yuan from our country as compensation for the loss of the Awa Maru. For such unreasonable demands, of course, our country strictly refuses, not to mention that the 40 tons of gold on the ship are missing, even according to the agreement signed by Japan on the Awa Maru in 1949, the Japanese side has no right to claim compensation, and the Awa Maru sank in China's waters, China has the only salvage right and ownership right, and no other country has the right to interfere.
As a result, in the end, my country returned only 368 soldiers' remains, with nothing else.