One correction: this is NOT the "American" view. This is the view of a subset of divers in America, a subset primarily located on the northeast Atlantic coast.
The subset may primarily be on the NE coast, but not centered there. I'm originally from the midwest, and currently in Korea, and I can't say my locality would have changed my view on the matter. I think it's more of an American conservative view on fruits of one's labor and Governments' efforts to give the benefits of the labors of others to the a) unwilling to work themselves and feeling a sense of entitlement or b) political cronies who are already rich and want more.
But thats my opinion, and seeing as how this is the wreck, and not political bashing board, I'll leave it at that.
Some of the wrecks they stripped were warships which are protected in maritime law. I am a bit more strict on my views on that type of artifact collecting without the ownership nations consent, even though they are literally thousands of military wrecks and war graves. Run of the mill steamships and armed merchant vessels on the other hand is still fair game lives lost or not. Even military wrecks should be fair game if one puts the time and effort to locate them.
As a Soldier, I feel I have a plank on this topic:
The Army sells for scrap, or disassembles and re-purposes the parts of battle damaged HMMWVs (including those involving deaths). The official term is "command substitution," the common term is cannibalization. I appreciate the magnitude of lives being lost. That being said I'll volunteer for the firing line for the first diver that pulls body parts out of a wreck for his personal collection. The ship, the guns, the prop... they are only tools. Just like the weapon and NVD of a Soldier are re-issued: because they are only tools of the trade (ever wonder why Soldiers collect all the 'Sensitive Items' from a Soldier's room after he passes?).
Wrecks of particular historical significance (I'm thinking here of something like the wreck of the Arizona in Pearl Harbor) deserve protection, as do wrecks that are serving intended purposes (no stealing the steel from a wreck sunk as an artificial reef...). But wrecks that were otherwise generally unknown, I think they're fair game. Having been educated by Hickdive, I'd be curious to know if under UK law the diver who recovers artifacts and reports them is required to report the location of the wreck along with their artifacts. If so, it would seem to take away any impetus to discover new wrecks, let alone reporting such discovery...