Posted April 01, 2018 13:26:03

Photo: The wreck of the SS Sagaing after it was floated by Sri Lankan Navy divers. (Supplied: Sri Lanka Navy)

A World War II British Navy ship sunk off north-east Sri Lanka has been refloated, 75 years after being damaged during a Japanese bombing raid.

The SS Sagaing was anchored in Trincomalee Harbour when it was hit by a bomb on April 9, 1942, and abandoned due to a fire on board.

On August 24, 1943 the damaged ship was sunk to be used as a pier for other naval ships.

Photo: One of dozens of navy divers tasked to refloat the ship, is shown at work. (Supplied: Sri Lanka Navy)

In September 2017 Sri Lanka's navy was tasked with refloating the wreck — which was submerged more than 10 metres underwater — to make room for expanding berthing facilities in the harbour.

The Eastern Naval Command unit carried out the task by strengthening the ship's internal framework and building an artificial side to "dewater" the ship and recover lost buoyancy.

Photo: Sri Lanka's navy provided the personnel required to refloat the vessel. (Supplied: Sri Lanka Navy)

The wreck started to ascend to the surface on March 22, the navy said in a statement.

Sri Lanka had 98 diving sailors working on permanent deployment on the project.

Photo: The SS Sagaing as it originally appeared before sinking during WWII. (Supplied: Sri Lanka Navy)

Topics: world-war-2, navy, sri-lanka, united-kingdom, japan