The MoD has extended legal protection to more than two dozen naval shipwrecks. The move follows decades of disturbance, with at least 3,000 artefacts recovered by divers from wrecks in UK waters. Newly protected sites include HMS Jason, HMS Hawke and HMS Nottingham (all off the Scottish coast), French minesweeper Emile Deschamps (off North Foreland) and RFA tanker Cairndale (off Casablanca). Also covered are HMCS Regina (north of Padstow) and HMCS Trentonian (K 368) (off Mevagissey), while HMCS Cobra lies off the Lincolnshire coast. USCG Cutter Tampa, lost around 45 miles northwest of Land’s End in 1918, is also included despite its wreck not yet being located. Battleships Royal Oak in Scapa Flow and HMS Vanguard in the Cromarty Firth, are already designated controlled sites but the exclusion zone around both is now being extended to provide extra protection.