GREAT SALVAGE FEAT

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21290, 9 October 1934, Page 11

GREAT SALVAGE FEAT

The Egypt's Gold YEARS OF WORK AND DARING LONDON. September 5. When the P. and O. liner, Egypt, in 1922 foundered off Ushant after a collision in a fog. there was specie worth £ 1.000.000 in her strongroom. It was not until a year later that the wreck was located by divers of the old Artiglio, who brought up the captain's safe. In the last two 3'ears gold and silver valued at £BOO.OOO has been recovered, but this year the work has been difficult because of the collapse of the wrecked ship. A consignment landed recently at Plymouth included 33 bars of 400 ozs. 44 bars of 100 ozs. 13 bars of 37?. ozs, and 15,000 sovereigns. On the present trip the grab brought up the door of the bullion room, and divers found a sovereign which had been embedded in the thick steel by pressure of the water. The Italian ship has goiae off again on what may be its last effort at this salvage operation. The Egypt lies 400 feet below the surface, beset by strange currents and close to the remains of scores of other wrecks. Experts smiled when the question of salvage was first raised. Even when an Italian company was formed to endeavour to recover the bullion the best terms that could be arranged with Lloyd's, who had paid the insurance on a total loss, was a "No cure, no pay," basis.

Triumph Over Obstacles "The Times'' outlines the work of the Sorima Company, beginning with 1929: The summer months were spent in a vain search for the .wreck and it was not until the following year that it was located by the divers of the old Artiglio, who were able to bring up the captain's safe. A few months later their ship was engulfed by an upheaval of the sea caused by the explosion of charges in another wreck on which they were working, and most of the crew were lost. In 1931 other divers in a new vessel, the present Artiglio, set to work, but it war. June, 1932, by the time they brought up the first gold. In the remaining months of the summer of that year and in the summer season last year they recovered 74 per cent, of the sovereigns, 77.7 per cent, of the bar gold, and 97 pe; cent, of the silver that went down with the liner. The Artiglio left the buoys which mark the wreck of the Egypt bearing further spoil, and the treasure now landed at Plymouth brings the amount of bar gold recovered up to 93 per cent, of the total: the number of sovereigns up to 83 per cent.: and the amount of silver up to 97.55 per cent. There were 1039 bars of gold of different sizes in the Egypt: of these 1033 havenow been saved.

Deep-Water Suction Apparatus At the end of the 1933 season the bullion room of the Egypt had been carefully examined, and was found to be practically empty. The salvage experts then had to search outside 1 lie bullion room for the remainder jof the treasure, representing, as | can be seen from the percentages : quoted above an important amount ' of money. ! After the collision which sank her the Egypt had a heavy list to port. ;]n consequence of this, it was considered, the contents of the bullion loom might have forced open the portside door. It was therefore assumed by the Sorima Company that n part of the missing treasure, consisting particularly of gold—as this was stowed on the extreme of the port side—might have fallen through a reserve hatchway adjacent to the port-side door of the bullion room. The demolition of the Egypt was planned with a view to reaching and clearing the main deck, and afterwards to cutting and removing that part of it which formed the ceiling of the bullion room. To begin new demolition for the purpose of leaching the deck underneath the bullion room was a further and unforeseen task of increased difficulty. This year's operations, begun on June 17. were devoted' to tin's new process of demolition, which was carlied out and successfully completed on August 15. The belief that the remainder of the gold would be found on the deck below the bullion room proved correct. On August 16 heavy bars were brought up to the surface, and in the next four days a quantity of gold weighing more than 12 cwt. was recovered, together with about 15,000 sovereigns. This achievement, one of the most diffi-1 cult of Ihe salvage operations - of the Egypt, is additional proof of the {■■ kill of the divers and the usefulness of the suction apparatus devised for deep-water salvage bv tfv Korima Company. Without this apparatus the work would not have been possible.