by CoinWeek…
- In December 1940, the SS Gairsoppa, a cargo ship carrying a massive shipment of silver, was torpedoed by a German U-boat.
- The ship sank three miles deep, remaining on the ocean floor for 70 years until an American company began a recovery operation in 2012.
- The salvage operation recovered 2,792 bars of silver, a historic feat and one of the deepest and heaviest recoveries of precious metal from a shipwreck site in history.
During World War II, the control of the Atlantic Ocean was critical for both Germany and the Allied forces. German U-boats relentlessly patrolled the seas, operating in “wolf packs” with the goal of crippling Britain’s commerce and bringing the island to its knees.
In December 1940, in the midst of this naval warfare, the SS Gairsoppa, a steel-hulled cargo ship, set sail from Calcutta. It was loaded with nearly 7,000 tons of cargo, including silver, pig iron, and tea. After a stop in Sierra Leone, the Gairsoppa joined a convoy headed for Liverpool. The convoy, however, was comprised of many ships that were in disrepair and could only travel at a maximum of eight knots. This made them especially vulnerable.
The Gairsoppa Sails Alone
The convoy’s plan was to meet up with another group of ships that were protected by two warships, but that group was attacked before they could rendezvous. This left the Gairsoppa’s slow-moving convoy to continue on its own.
As they sailed through the treacherous North Atlantic, high winds and powerful ocean swells slowed the Gairsoppa down even further. The weather became so severe and the ship’s fuel supply so low that it couldn’t keep pace with its convoy. The Gairsoppa had no choice but to sail on alone, completely exposed in the submarine-infested waters.
The men aboard that ship, low on fuel, separated from your convoy, and moving at a snail’s pace could not hear the silent German submarine circling in the dark water below. Without warning, a torpedo slammed into the ship, snapping its wireless antenna, which prevented any distress calls from being sent. The Gairsoppa sank into the icy, dark waters of the Atlantic, taking its crew with it. One man survived.
A Historic Discovery
The Gairsoppa came to rest at a depth of three miles—3,000 feet deeper than the final resting place of the Titanic. The wreck and its valuable cargo remained untouched for 70 years. In 2012, an American company began a recovery operation and salvaged almost all of the insured silver from the shipwreck. The July 2013 salvage was the deepest and heaviest recovery of precious metal from a shipwreck site in history.
The treasure was astounding: 2,792 massive bars of silver. Each bar contained almost 1,100 ounces of pure silver and was stamped with “HM Mint Bombay.” This marked the silver as having come from the His Majesty’s Mint in Bombay.
Since the discovery, only 462 of these original silver bars have been released to the public. The rest have been melted down and re-minted into 10-ounce commemorative bars. This has made the original SS Gairsoppa silver bars a true rarity, available only to a select few investors.
* * *
