Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa discovered with £155m silver haul onboard

Telegraph UK ^ | September 26, 2011

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

The SS Gairsoppa was carrying seven million ounces of silver, worth around £155 million at today's prices. The 412 foot steel-hulled ship was torpedoed while in the service of the Ministry of War Transport. Odyssey Marine Exploration said it had confirmed the identity and location of the shipwreck site, nearly 4,700 metres below the surface of the North Atlantic, about 300 miles off the coast of Ireland in international waters. The company said in a statement: "Contemporary research and official documents indicate that the ship was carrying £600,000 (1941 value) or seven million total ounces of silver, including over three million ounces of private silver bullion insured by the UK government, which would make it the largest known precious metal cargo ever recovered from the sea."

[Red_Devil 232]

Neat. I guess Spain will claim it all belongs to her!

[Farmer Dean]

Well,they could sure use the money....

[count-your-change]

Attempting to recover the silver is going to be a money burner. But nickels and dimes won’t get the job done and the efforts will make a great story for Nat. Geo. on t.v.

[240B]

Yep. All *ahem* ‘reported’ discovered treasure and artifacts are being confiscated by governments.

They want the cash baby, and could not care less about the people who actually work to discover it.

[njslim]

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/765.html

[njslim]

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/765.html

[njslim]

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/765.html

[njslim]

http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/765.html

[goat granny]

It really ticks me off that people find treasure and some greedy government comes in and takes it....I believe in finders keepers, losers weepers....they cash in on the blood and sweat of another also the investiment of money and time of the finders...Just proves that the biggest, greediest one’s are always the governments...they are the truly rich.....

[BBell]

4,700 metres is just short of 3 miles. That is pretty darn deep for a salvage operaton.

[BBell]

In 2010 the UK Department for Transport awarded the company, through a competitive tender process, the exclusive salvage contract for the cargo of the ship. Under the agreement, Odyssey will retain 80 percent of the value of the silver.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Ma. Where’s my diving suit and passport?

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[cynwoody]

It really ticks me off that people find treasure and some greedy government comes in and takes it....I believe in finders keepers, losers weepers....they cash in on the blood and sweat of another also the investiment of money and time of the finders...Just proves that the biggest, greediest one’s are always the governments...they are the truly rich.....

They should just post a hi-res video of the treasure and auction off the coordinates (gubmints as well as rubes being eligible to bid).

[SunkenCiv]

Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa discovered with £155m silver haul onboard

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48 Tons of Silver Recovered From World War II Shipwreck -- The Tampa, Fla.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. announced Wednesday that it had recovered 48 tons of silver bullion from the SS Gairsoppa, a sunken British cargo ship in three miles of water off the coast of Ireland. Between the Gairsoppa, torpedoed by a German U-boat during World War II, and the SS Mantola, sunk by a German submarine during World War I, Odyssey said in a press release that about 240 tons of silver may be recovered by the end of the operation.