GOLD AT BOTTOM OF SEA.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 11931, 29 October 1919, Page 7

GOLD AT BOTTOM OF SEA.

LAURENTIC’S LOST £6,000,000. , SUCCESSFUL SALVAGE WORK. In a weather-beaten spot off the entrance to Lough Swilly divers are defying almost insuperable difficulties in the efforts to salve the gold bullion carried by the ill-fated Laurentic. when she was torpedoed early in 1917. She is believed to have had about £6,000,000 in gold ingots on hoard when she was sunk, and of this total over £BOO,OOO has bee* recovered. It is only since hostilities ceased that serious efforts have been possible to secure the wealth which lies in the battered hulk of the ship at a depth of 10 fathoms. She rests about four miles seaward of Fanad Head, and the position is exposed to the full fury of the north-westerly gales. The vessel is broken and compressed bj- the tremendous pressure of the water above her, and the depth is just about the limit at which the divers can work. Only in calm weather can the salvage operations be carried on, but in face of all these jjrohlems the authorities are fairly confident that all the gold can be recovered. The tragedy of the Laurentic has never been fully told. Within two hours of leaving Lough Swilly one evening in February on her way to Canada she was lying at the bottom of the sea. Two torpedoes struck her—one giving her such a heavy list to starboard that the port boats could not be launched, and the other putting her back on an even keel. . There was time :to arouse everybody on board, and all got away, although to many it meant a slow and painful, death. A south-easterly blizzard was blowug with such intensity that the boats were driven right out to the Atlantic. Flares were burnt, but bv the irony of fate none of the patrol boats was in the vicinity. The Laurentic’s boats continued their f'eaful journey, seas sweeping over and filling them, while the occupants slowly froze to death. Eventually 200 survivors were landed and between 70 and 80 dead.