Even when the soldiers are gone, the weapons destroyed, past scars from past wars never truly heal - the memories of its horrors always finding ways to haunt us. And for the sunken remains of one German U-boat, the haunting is part of the clear and present danger it presents to its surrounding aquatic life.
 
Launched during the latter half of WWII, the German submarine U-864 was carrying 1,857 canisters of Mercury weighing a total of 65 tons, along with Messerschmitt jet engine parts. All were intended to be smuggled to the Japanese in an attempt to help them regain air power in the war. It never happened.

On February 9, 1944, U864 was intercepted by the British HMS Venturer. The ensuing running battle left the U864 broken in half by a dead-on torpedo hit, its hulking remains sinking into waters 500 feet deep off the coast of Norway. Even in its death, the U-boat still posed a threat to its surroundings.

Now resting on the sea bed roughly two kilometers of the coast of the island of Fedje, the U-boat had slowly been leeching its toxic cargo into the surrounding area, poisoning the local fish life and anyone who ate it.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is already alert to the situation, and has since banned boating or fishing in the area. In connection with this, the islanders demanded that the Authorities remove the vessel from its grave, along with the Mercury. This proved to be impossible, as further inspection shows, the salt water had already eroded the canisters to the point that extraction would cause them to break.

As a last resort, it is reported that the Norwegian authorities have resorted to burying the vessel in 100,000 cubic or sand, dirt or gravel to a depth of 12 meters to prevent further leaks. The resulting project will cost £8 million. The burial will be aired on BB this January 5, and will be treated as a formal burial ceremony, in memory of the U-boat's Captain Wolfram,72-man crew.

Some may remember a similar incident taking place back in 2000. The K-141 Kursk which sank off the coast of the Barents Sea following a mysterious explosion onboard the experimental sub. There were no survivors