Wreck hunt with £4.5bn worth of British gold!

Experts have calculated that inside the wrecks of British merchant ships sunk during the First and Second World Wars lies gold worth a total of £4.5 billion! Out of a total of 7,500 sunken vessels, the team of researchers have identified more than 700 which they assume were carrying significant amounts of gold and other precious metals.

Britannia’s Gold has amassed over 8 million documents showing the location of sunken vessels that went down with cargo totalling £4.5 billion! The database, which is operated by the organisation, has been compiled over the past 25 years.

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In the course of researching the documents, it also came to light that during World War II, the Germans were well aware of the cargo carried by merchant ships. The vessels with the most valuable cargo were marked as priority targets by the U-boat commanders.

The purpose of these actions was obviously to deplete Britain’s ability to purchase arms, ammunition and supplies. The plan also included pinpointing the exact location of sunken ships and extracting the contents of their holds after the war was won.

Neither the plans for an Axis victory over the Allies nor the recovery of the sunken gold after the war came to fruition. Now, however, that state of affairs could change, and within the next few weeks. That’s when an expedition costing £15m is set to set off, targeting wrecks and their contents located a few hundred miles west of the Irish coast.

“Britannia’s Gold” will, as part of its activities, send teams out to sea to search for wrecks and extract their cargo. AUVs and ROVs will be used, along with a variety of machinery needed to complete specific tasks underwater.

The first objective of the project is to locate three wrecks in close proximity to each other. Two of these date from the First World War and one from the Second World War. Their estimated cargo value is £750m.

[blockquote style=”2″]”Thanks to our huge database, we have access to such vital information as the location of the wreck, its cargo, the depth it is at and we know who the legal owner is,” Britannia’s Gold officials say.”[/blockquote]

From the available information it is also known that none of the wrecks selected for exploration is considered a war grave, as is the case for example with the SS “City of Benares”. The vessel was torpedoed in 1940 by a German U-boat, taking to the bottom, among others, 77 children who were on board as part of an evacuation operation.

[blockquote style=”2″]”We intend to conduct our activities with respect for the victims of these catastrophes, and wrecks recognised as war graves and those involved in the evacuation of children will be avoided by us at all costs. As a sign of respect, a commemorative plaque will be placed on each wreck we visit,” the organisation’s representatives write on their website.[/blockquote]

All British warships sunk after 1914 are classified as war graves, but this does not apply to most merchant ships.

The first part of the extracted valuables, will go to the UK government, which is the rightful owner of the cargo. After covering the costs of the operation, the rest will be divided among investors, with a percentage going to charitable foundations.

Source: britanniasgold.com