Scientists have discovered that a Nazi patrol boat sunk by RAF bombers during the
Fishing trawler V-1302 John Mahn lies atcoast of Belgium after it was destroyed in 1942. Eighty years later, experts from the University of Ghent discovered that the wreck had damaged the surrounding seabed.
The researchers took samples from the steel casetrawler and sediments around it. It turned out that heavy metals such as nickel and copper were present, as well as arsenic and explosive compounds. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have also been found. Many of these substances are strong chemical carcinogens.