Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul

[klong toey]

Now thats what i call a good find.

A shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver worth about £150m has been found in the Atlantic - the largest haul of precious metal ever discovered at sea.

The SS Gairsoppa, a UK cargo ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, was found by US exploration firm Odyssey Marine.

The firm will retain 80% of the cargo's value under the terms of a contract with the Department for Transport.

Only one person from the 85-strong crew survived the torpedo attack as the ageing steamer tried to reach Ireland.

The vessel was on its way back to Britain from India when it ran low on fuel in stormy weather, and tried to divert to Galway harbour, but it was spotted and sunk by the German submarine.
BBC News - Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul

[alwarner]

I caught the end of an article about it on BBC 5Live. Interesting. I know it's a large scale industry this kind of expedition but it holds a certain "boys own" charm.

80% of the haul is big fcking bucks.

[klong toey]

I never find anything of real value,when i go beach combing,the odd phone divers watch,always plenty of old ammunition.Got some nice bullets from a second world war fighter.Hand grenade,and when we were young and fearless found a bomb,we were rolling it up the hill home when we were stopped by an adult.
Bomb squad blew it up on the playing field,went off with quiet a force.
No bloody gold or silver though.