SS Gairsoppa

1941

2,817 silver bars, the deepest recovery ever Location: Atlantic Ocean, SW of Ireland · Coordinates: 49.53°N 15.92°W · Casualties: 85 · Survivors: 1 · Depth: 4,700 m · Cause: submarine torpedo — Ran low on coal in the North Atlantic and broke away from Convoy SL-64 on 14 February 1941 to attempt Galway alone. Torpedoed by German submarine U-101 (Ernst Mengersen, commanding) three days later, southwest of Ireland. Sank in twenty minutes. · Fate: abyssal · silver recovered 2012-13 · Type: cargo steamer · Hain Steamship · Tonnage: 5,237 tons · Crew: 86 · Flag: United Kingdom · Launched: 1919 British Hain Steamship cargo ship, India to Galway with 2,817 silver bars in her holds. Ran low on coal and broke away from her convoy on 14 February 1941; torpedoed three days later by U-101 southwest of Ireland. 85 dead of 86 aboard; Second Officer Richard Ayres reached the Cornish coast in a lifeboat two weeks later. In 2012-13 Odyssey Marine recovered the silver from 4,700 metres, the deepest recovery of precious metals ever attempted. The Vessel The SS Gairsoppa was a British steel-hulled steam-powered cargo ship, built at the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company yard at Dundee in 1919. She was 125 metres long, 5,237 gross tons, and powered by a triple-expansion steam engine of approximately 1,800 horsepower. She was originally built for the British India Steam Navigation Company for the Calcutta to London trade route; her name Gairsoppa was taken from the Gerusoppa Falls (now Jog Falls) in Karnataka, India. Her subsequent service was predominantly the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean cargo trade, carrying substantial cargoes between India, East Africa, and European ports through the 1920s and 1930s. She was, in 1940, 21 years old and beginning to show her age: her triple-expansion engine was progressively less efficient compared to modern diesel designs, and her hull had been substantially weathered by two decades of saltwater service. By January 1941, she had been requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport for wartime merchant-marine service as part of the Battle of the Atlantic supply operations. Her specific mission for the voyage of 4 February 1941 onwards was the transport of strategic cargo from India to Britain: predominantly tea, pig iron, and approximately 240 tonnes of silver bullion from the Indian State Banks, consigned to the Bank of England to support Britain's wartime financial position. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Gerald Hyland, 46, a career British India Steam Naviga The Disaster On 16 February 1941, approximately 48 hours after detaching from Convoy SL-64, Gairsoppa was detected by the German U-boat U-101 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Ernst Mengersen. The U-101 was on her fifth war patrol in the eastern Atlantic and had been ordered to intercept isolated British merchant ships detached from convoys. At approximately 22:30 on 16 February 1941, U-101 initiated her attack on Gairsoppa. The attack was conducted from approximately 3,000 metres range using U-101's stern torpedo tubes. Two torpedoes were launched at approximately 22:35; one torpedo struck Gairsoppa amidships at approximately 22:38 on 16 February 1941. The torpedo detonation was substantial. The explosion penetrated Gairsoppa's engine room and produced a fatal hull breach. The ship began to settle immediately; her engines stopped; her wireless equipment was destroyed by the shock; her single lifeboat on the starboard side was damaged during the explosion and could not be launched. Captain Hyland ordered abandon ship at approximately 22:42 on 16 February 1941. Three lifeboats were successfully launched: the port lifeboat (with approximately 32 personnel), the port gig (with approximately 12 personnel), and a makeshift raft (with approximately 8 personnel). SS Gairsoppa sank at approximately 22:55 on 16 February 1941 in approximately 4,700 metres of water approximately 500 kilometres west of Ireland. The weather conditions in the immediately succeeding days were the critical factor