Ss Gairsoppa – Sunken Silver Treasure Discovered

In the long tradition of treasure hunt stories a new chapter will have to be written soon. And this one will not be fiction, but the real life story about the recovery of a missing World War II vessel, carrying literally hundreds of tons of silver. 

Built in 1919 the SS Gairsoppa was a merchant ship owned and operated by the British-India Steam Navigation Company. In 1941 it was on its way back from India to the British homeland, when it begun to run low on fuel. The captain of the SS Gairsoppa decided to leave its Convoy SL 64 and to set direct course for the nearest port, which was Galway Harbor in neutral Ireland.

But during the height of world war II, any vessel travelling without a protective convoy was severely at risk of becoming the prey of the enemy. Not long after the Gairsoppa had split from the convoy, it was spotted by a Focke-Wulff aircraft and torpedoed by a German U-101 submarine under the command of Ernst Mengersen. The huge cargo vessel (400 ft / 121 m in length) reportedly sank within 20 minutes, about 300 sea miles off the Irish coast. Of the crew of 85 men ultimately only one survived following and exhausting journey through the rough Atlantic on one of its life boats. The cargo, aside from the usual tea, included about 200 t of silver bullion that rapidly sank deep to the ocean ground.

Following a failed attempt in the early 1990s, the British government in early 2010 again announced a tender for the discovery and recovery of the Gairsoppa, this time awarding it to the Odyssey Marine Exploration. Then on September 26, 2011 the Florida based company was finally able to confirm the location and identification of the missing vessel. Whether this first successful announcement will eventually bring about the ultimate goal, i.e. the recovery of the silver treasure remains yet to be seen. The vessel lies deep down on the dark Atlantic Ocean floor where any recovery efforts will be extremely challenging. But in case the silver should ultimately be found in the vessel, financing the recovery should not be an issue. At today’s silver price the value of the bullion is worth about 170 million Euro! And, according to agreements with the British government, the explorers will keep a whopping 80% of the booty! Ahoy!