200 Tons of Silver Found on WWII Ship

namvet

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A Florida company finds buried treasure worth an astounding amount of money. Odyssey Marine says it has located a World War II era ship that may have almost a quarter-of-a-billion dollars worth of silver on board.

It sits nearly three miles under water - deeper than the wreck of the Titanic. The S.S. Garisoppa has been at this resting place for 70 years.

"It was sunk by a U-boat, early in 1941 during WWII," Mark Gordon with Odyssey Marine said.

It was a stormy Second World War night when, on February 17, 1941, three lifeboats abandoned the SS Gairsoppa, a 412 foot-long British cargo ship en route from India to Liverpool, England.

In service of the Ministry of War Transport, the Gairsoppa was laden with tea, iron and tons of silver. Because of bad weather and insufficient coal, she was forced to break away from the military convoy off the coast of Ireland.
As the captain re-routed in emergency for Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, the merchant steamship and its crew of 86 men were hit by a torpedo from a Nazi U-boat. She sank in icy seas within 20 minutes.

Left at the mercy of the winds and waves, two lifeboats soon disappeared. A third boat managed to sail for 13 days, with only one person, second officer Richard Ayres, surviving the long journey to shore.

source

they found the records of this sinking from U-101.

http://www.uboat.net/boats/u101.htm

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl3EKfj13Xg"]A shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver: Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul - YouTube[/ame]
 
Something similar was found on HMS Edinburgh, this time gold bullion.

Edinburgh carryied a 4.5-long-ton (4,570 kg) consignment of gold bullion, intended as partial payment for Allied supplies to the USSR. The 465 gold ingots, carried in 93 wooden boxes, were in the armoured bomb-rooms on the starboard side, near the first torpedo's impact point. At the time, the estimated worth of the bullion was about £1.5 million sterling.

In 1954, the British government offered the salvage rights to the Edinburgh to Risdon Beazley Ltd., a British salvage company. But the project was put on hold, due to strained political relations with the Soviet Union. In 1957, the wreck was designated as a war grave, which complicated any salvage attempts still further.

In the late 1970s, interest in the Edinburgh was reawakened, and the British government became increasingly anxious to recover the gold. This was not only because of its value, but also because there was growing fear that the wreck might be looted by unscrupulous salvagers, or, worse, salvaged by the Soviet Union, the coast of which was near.

In the early 1980s, seasoned diver Keith Jessop won the salvage rights to Edinburgh for his company Jessop Marine. Jessop's methods, using complex cutting machinery, were deemed more appropriate for a war grave than the explosives-oriented methods of other companies.

In April 1981, the survey ship Dammtor began searching for the wreck in the Barents Sea, on behalf of Jessop Marine. After only ten days, Dammtor discovered the wreck at approximately 72°N 35°E, about 400 km NNE of the Soviet coast at the Kola Inlet. The depth was 245 metres (800 ft).

Using specialized cameras, the Dammtor took detailed film of the wreck, which allowed Jessop and his divers to carefully plan the salvage operation.

Later that year, on 30 August, the dive-support vessel Stephaniturm journeyed to the site, and salvage operations began in earnest. Several divers were injured during the operation, but on 15 September 1981, a diver finally penetrated the bomb room and recovered a bar of gold.

On 7 October, bad weather finally forced the suspension of diving operations, but by that time, 431 of 465 ingots had been recovered, now worth in excess of £43,000,000 sterling. A further 29 bars were recovered in a subsequent operation in 1986, bringing the total to 460, leaving five unaccounted for.
 
Something similar was found on HMS Edinburgh, this time gold bullion.

Edinburgh carryied a 4.5-long-ton (4,570 kg) consignment of gold bullion, intended as partial payment for Allied supplies to the USSR. The 465 gold ingots, carried in 93 wooden boxes, were in the armoured bomb-rooms on the starboard side, near the first torpedo's impact point. At the time, the estimated worth of the bullion was about £1.5 million sterling.

In 1954, the British government offered the salvage rights to the Edinburgh to Risdon Beazley Ltd., a British salvage company. But the project was put on hold, due to strained political relations with the Soviet Union. In 1957, the wreck was designated as a war grave, which complicated any salvage attempts still further.

In the late 1970s, interest in the Edinburgh was reawakened, and the British government became increasingly anxious to recover the gold. This was not only because of its value, but also because there was growing fear that the wreck might be looted by unscrupulous salvagers, or, worse, salvaged by the Soviet Union, the coast of which was near.

In the early 1980s, seasoned diver Keith Jessop won the salvage rights to Edinburgh for his company Jessop Marine. Jessop's methods, using complex cutting machinery, were deemed more appropriate for a war grave than the explosives-oriented methods of other companies.

In April 1981, the survey ship Dammtor began searching for the wreck in the Barents Sea, on behalf of Jessop Marine. After only ten days, Dammtor discovered the wreck at approximately 72°N 35°E, about 400 km NNE of the Soviet coast at the Kola Inlet. The depth was 245 metres (800 ft).

Using specialized cameras, the Dammtor took detailed film of the wreck, which allowed Jessop and his divers to carefully plan the salvage operation.

Later that year, on 30 August, the dive-support vessel Stephaniturm journeyed to the site, and salvage operations began in earnest. Several divers were injured during the operation, but on 15 September 1981, a diver finally penetrated the bomb room and recovered a bar of gold.

On 7 October, bad weather finally forced the suspension of diving operations, but by that time, 431 of 465 ingots had been recovered, now worth in excess of £43,000,000 sterling. A further 29 bars were recovered in a subsequent operation in 1986, bringing the total to 460, leaving five unaccounted for.

I saw a very similar story about a US destroyer that was sunk bringing back a gold shipment from the soviets. it was loaded on board in Murmansk also. sunk beteen there and England. it was insured by the US so it was paid off as well. I just can't remember the details because it was a TV documentary showing the salvage. there was an issue over salvage rights between the crown and soviets. but I think the crown got it all.
 
I saw a very similar story about a US destroyer that was sunk bringing back a gold shipment from the soviets. it was loaded on board in Murmansk also. sunk beteen there and England. it was insured by the US so it was paid off as well. I just can't remember the details because it was a TV documentary showing the salvage. there was an issue over salvage rights between the crown and soviets. but I think the crown got it all.

As far as I can remember, regarding HMS Edinburgh, the bullion was split between the Soviets, the Crown and the recovery team. The last I heard, the divers were each paid a million sterling, while the owner of the salvage company walked away with quite a few millions.

I cannot even begin to imagine what is still on the bottom of the various sea's and oceans. I also remember something about boxes of brand new Tommy guns still in the grease dumped in the English Channel.
 
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