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A SHIPWRECK holding silver worth £150million has been
discovered in the Atlantic – the largest amount of precious metal ever
found at sea.
About 200 tons of the bullion sank off Ireland with British cargo
steamer the SS Gairsoppa when it was hit by a German torpedo in 1941.
But it has now been found by US treasure hunters awarded a contract to
conduct a search by our Department for Transport.
They will now attempt to salvage the silver and will have to hand 20% of
its value to the British Treasury.
The US team lowered a robot 2.9 miles to the seabed and it found a
gaping hole in the side of the ship where the torpedo had struck 70
years ago.
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Greg Stemm, chief executive of underwater archaeology and salvage firm
Odyssey Marine Exploration, said: “We were fortunate to find the
shipwreck sitting upright, with the holds open and easily accessible.
“This should enable to us to unload cargo through the hatches, as would
happen with a ship alongside a cargo terminal.”
The 412ft SS Gairsoppa had set sail from India carrying silver, iron and
tea and was headed for Liverpool.
But it was forced to break away from its military convoy as weather
deteriorated. Running out of fuel, the captain tried to make it to
Galway in Ireland but was attacked by a German U-boat 300 miles
south-west of the harbour, with the loss of all but one of the 85
crewmen.
Of 32 survivors who managed to clamber on to lifeboats, Second Officer
Richard Ayres was the only one who made it to the Cornish coast alive.
He was awarded an MBE for his attempts to rescue his fellow sailors and
lived until 1992.
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Odyssey said it was “highly unlikely” any human remains would be found,
given the age and depth of the wreck. But chief marine archaeologist
Neil Dobson said: “By finding this shipwreck and telling the story of
its loss, we pay tribute to the brave merchant sailors who lost their
lives.”
The Florida-based company said it had confirmed the shipwreck’s identity
from evidence including the number of holds, the anchor type, the
scupper locations and red-and-black hull colours.
Although none of the precious metal has yet been found, the shiny tin
linings of the tea chests were initially mistaken for silver bars.
The Odyssey team is expected to begin the recovery stage of the
operation when the weather improves next spring. Because SS Gairsoppa,
which was owned by the British Indian Steam Navigation Company, settled
upright on the seabed with its cargo holds open, the firm is confident
that remote-controlled robotic submarines should be able to retrieve the
bullion.
Senior project manager Andrew Craig said: “We’ve accomplished the first
phase of this project – the location and identification of the target
shipwreck SS Gairsoppa.
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“Now we’re hard at work planning for the recovery phase. Given the
orientation and condition of the shipwreck, we are confident that our
planned salvage will be well suited for the recovery of this silver
cargo.”
The silver was a mixture of privately owned bullion insured by Britain’s
wartime government and state-owned coins and ingots. Old insurance
documents were used to calculate the approximate value.
Odyssey said records also showed the silver bars may contain 2.5% gold
as well, which he described as “an added bonus”.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “The contract for the
salvage of the SS Gairsoppa was awarded by competitive tender in
accordance with government and departmental procedures.”
A Florida court this month ruled Odyssey must hand 17 tons of gold and
silver coins to Spain after a four-year legal battle.
The treasure was recovered from a Spanish galleon laden with bullion
from the Americas and sunk by the British off the coast of Portugal in
1804.
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