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German wreck full of gold found near Iceland

Listen to this article Shipwreck searchers exploring the wreck of the SS “Minden” have found a chest filled with gold with an estimated value of £100m inside! The vessel was sunk near Iceland in the early days of World War II. This was most likely done by her own crew. All to avoid the Allies
Published: July 24, 2017 - 16:05
Updated: July 22, 2023 - 15:24
German wreck full of gold found near Iceland
Listen to this article

Shipwreck searchers exploring the wreck of the SS “Minden” have found a chest filled with gold with an estimated value of £100m inside! The vessel was sunk near Iceland in the early days of World War II. This was most likely done by her own crew. All to avoid the Allies taking over the valuable cargo.

As we can read in foreign media reporting the whole affair, Advanced Marine Services (AMS) wreck searchers have managed to find a cargo of 4 tonnes of gold worth an astronomical £100 million. The gold had been sailing to III Things from South America. The shipment was reportedly sent as support from banks there.

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Exactly on September, 6th the ship left the port in Brazil, heading for Europe. On September, 24th SS “Minden” was spotted by the cruisers of the Royal Navy – HMS “Calypso” and HMS “Dunedin”.

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It was then that Adolf Hitler himself was to decide and order the ship’s captain to sink the vessel with the gold shipment. All this to prevent the English from seizing the precious metal.

There was also no loss of life. The crew of SS “Minden” was rescued and then returned to the base in Scapa Flow by HMS “Dunedin”.

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During the exploration of the interior of the wreck, specifically the mail room, a chest was found which, on closer inspection, turned out to contain a huge shipment of gold. AMS has already submitted a request to the Icelandic authorities for permission to cut a hole in the hull of the wreck to extract the chest.

Treasure hunters are planning to take the chest and its cargo back to England, claiming it belongs to the finder. Meanwhile, Icelandic authorities have still not issued an official statement on the wreck, which lies on the seabed 200 km southeast of the island.

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The ship SS “Minden” was built in 1921 by Vulcan A. G. (Stettin & Hamburg), Hamburg. Ship belonged to Norddeutscher Lloyd. The vessel measured almost 117 metres long and 15.5 metres wide. “Minden” developed speed 15.5 knots

Source: dailymail.com, wrecksite.eu

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About author

Tomasz Andrukajtis
Editor-in-chief of the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Responsible for obtaining, translating and developing content. He also supervises all publications. Achived his first diving certification – P1 CMAS, in 2000. Has a degree in journalism and social communication. In the diving industry since 2008.
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