£3,000,000 TREASURE HUNT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1859, 8 September 1923, Page 7

£3,000,000 TREASURE HUNT.

SALVING THE SUNK LUSITANIA

When the Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland on May 7, 1915, she had bullion on board to the value of £3,000,000. An expedition left Dover for the purpose of trying to salve this treasure. The expedition is in charge of. Count Zanardi Landi, a salvage expert, who purchased on behalf of a syndicate the sloop Buttercup from the Admiralty and renamed her Semper Paratus (Always Ready). Capable of a speed of 17 knots, she is said to be the largest and fastest salvage steamer in the world. Her equipment includes powerful electric submarine lamps, pneumatic tools for under water work, nine sets of diving apparatus, together with a patent suit invented by Count Landi, who intends to use it himself, and special electric blasting machinery. Other salvage experts, in addition to Count Landi, were aboard the Semper ParatuSj which had clearance papers for the North Atlantic.

As the coast of Old Kinsale is very rugged unci exposed, the success of the salvage work will largely depend on fine weather, but as the Lusitania lies on a gravel bottom, the actual blasting and cutting work should not be difficult. In addition to the bullion, the Lusitania carried many valuable securities in steel, air-tight boxes.