Salvors have announced the discovery of the wreck of the Russian armored cruiser, Dmitrii Donskoi, which was scuttled in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War following the Battle of Tsushima. The wreck was found in 1,400 feet of water about one mile off the South Korean island of Ulleungdo. The salvors also claimed that the ship may contain 200 tons of gold, which would be worth around $133.4 billion (£102bn) in today’s prices.  Allegedly, the Dmitrii Donskoi, which was designed as a commerce raider, was carrying the entire supply of gold for the Russian Second Pacific Squadron.

There appears to be little doubt that the Seoul-based maritime salvage company Shinil Group has found the wreck of the Dmitrii Donskoi, based on photos and video. A diver in one of the submersibles picked out the name in Cyrillic characters on its stern. But, is there really a vast cache of gold aboard? That is the really interesting question. What evidence is there that the Imperial Russian Navy saw fit to put 200 tonnes of gold aboard a lightly armored commerce raider? 

This is not the first time that the Dmitrii Donskoi has been reported to be discovered. Back in 2000, the Daily Independent reported: “Sunken gold fever grips South Korea.”  They reported that “rumors are flying that a South Korean company has discovered gold worth $125bn (£87bn) in the wreck of a Russian warship, the biggest maritime discovery of all time – if it is true.” The Dong Ah construction company said that it had discovered the ship. Apparently, it had not. 

But what about the gold? The Independent reports that “South Korean newspapers have dug up unidentified historical records which, they say, show the Dmitri Donskoi had been carrying a huge cargo of gold bars.”

The Russians, however, said not so fast.

“Russian officials scornfully brushed the reports aside as “utter nonsense” yesterday, saying the most Dong Ah could have found is a petty cash box.

“It is out of the question that [the warship] had gold bars in its hold, because it was Russia’s practice to send gold to the Far East on special rail cars,” said Sergei Klimovsky, the scientific secretary of St Petersburg’s central naval museum.” 

The Independent points out that this is not the first shipwreck said to loaded with Russian gold.

“The legend of fabulous treasure hoards in sunken Russian ships first took hold of the Far East in 1993, when Japanese divers discovered the wreck of the Admiral Nakhimov in the same waters as the Dmitri Donskoi. The Japanese divers found no treasure.”

Even if there is a cache of 200 tonnes of gold aboard, the valuation of $133.4 billion looks highly suspicious. At a current gold price of around $1,230 per ounce, the value of 200 metric tonnes would be around $8.7 billion, not over $130 billion.   

Thanks to Alaric Bond and Phil Leon for contributing to this post.