On February 16, 1941 the S.S. Gairsoppa was bound from India to Britain, when she was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank 300 miles southwest of Galway Bay.  In addition to pig iron and tea, she carried silver bullion currently valued at $260 million.   This week,   Odyssey Marine Exploration , Inc. has been awarded a contract by the British government to locate the ship and to salvage the cargo. If successful Odyssey will be allowed to keep about 80 percent of  the silver bullion.

Odyssey Hunts Nazi-Torpedoed Ship’s $260 Million of Silver

Odyssey aims to salvage Gairsoppa’s cargo from beneath as much as 14,000 feet (4,270 meters) of water amid surging prices for silver, which has more than doubled in the past year, and gold, which rose to a record last week. The company recovered 17 tons of gold and silver coins in 2007 in an Atlantic Ocean operation it codenamed Black Swan. It also plans to hoist treasure from at least five other ships, including HMS Sussex, which sank in 1694 near Gibraltar and may hold gold that the New York Times has estimated is valued at as much as $4 billion.

Thanks to Irwin Bryan for passing along the article.