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Shipwreck · Recovered

SS Gairsoppa

Sank 1941 · salvaged 2012 to 13, ~300 mi SW of Ireland, N. Atlantic
RECOVERED
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

SS Gairsoppa: still unexplained.

110 tons of silver bullion

The subject
developing the photograph…
The manifest
110 tons of silver bullion
The account

A British cargo steamer torpedoed by a U-boat in 1941 and found 4,700 meters down. Salvors raised 110 tons of silver, the largest precious-metal recovery from the sea in history.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • A British steamer torpedoed in the North Atlantic in 1941 with about 240 tons of silver aboard; Odyssey Marine recovered around 110 tons from roughly 4,700 meters in 2012, the deepest and largest precious-metal recovery ever from a wreck.
  • The salvage is documented and was done under a UK government contract; the remaining silver and the wreck lie in deep Atlantic water.
  • The lead is what the Gairsoppa proved: that deep wartime cargo wrecks are now reachable, which has opened the hunt for others like her.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • A British steamer torpedoed in the North Atlantic in 1941 with about 240 tons of silver aboard; Odyssey Marine recovered around 110 tons from roughly 4,700 meters in 2012, the deepest and largest precious-metal recovery ever from a wreck.
  • The salvage is documented and was done under a UK government contract; the remaining silver and the wreck lie in deep Atlantic water.
  • The lead is what the Gairsoppa proved: that deep wartime cargo wrecks are now reachable, which has opened the hunt for others like her.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position 50.000°, -14.000° (approx.) View on the Map