HMS Edinburgh-- Part 2

The U-456 fired two more torpedoes which wrecked the Edinburgh's steering and the vessel was taken in tow. It was harassed along the way by German torpedo bombers and then attacked by three German destroyers.

The Edinburgh cast off the tow lines and commenced firing, even though it could just sail in circles. A salvo from it damaged one badly enough that it had to be scuttled. At this time, the Edinburgh was struck by another torpedo, about opposite of where the first one hit and the crew believed the ship was about to break apart.

The crew abandoned ship. During the fighting, the ship lost 58 men.

The Edinburgh, however, continued to float and was fired on by the British ships, and even depth charges were set off alongside. but it wouldn't go down. Finally, a torpedo from a British destroyer did the job and ship sank in 800 feet of water in the Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean on May 2nd.


GOLD

The Edinburgh had been carrying 4.5 tons of gold bullion inn the form of 465 gold ingots from Stalin and the Soviet Union in payment for supplies from the Allies. The gold remained on the ship until the 1980s when Jessop Marine, founded by noted undersea diver Keith Jessop was hired by the British government to get it.

After a search, the ship was found and after several divers were injured, on September 15, 1981, a diver was able to penetrate the bomb room and recovered a bar. In the next several days, 431 ingots were recovered.

I wish I had known this story so i could have talked more about it with the guy.

A Very Interesting Story. --Coot

HMS Edinburgh

While at Donovan's Reef at Panama City Beach, Florida, I was talking with a couple from Alaska snowbirding it. He said that he was a deep sea welder and worked on oil rigs. He also said that he had recovered gold from the HMS Edinburgh, as a matter of fact, he was the one who cut through the ship's hull and was the first one to. I'd never heard of the story so looked it up when I got home.

There was such a ship and it was carrying gold when it was sunk in 1942.

Thanks to Wikipedia.

The HMS Edinburgh was a 613.6 foot long, 64.9 foot beam Town-class light cruiser carrying a main armament of 12 X 6-inch and 12 X 4-inch guns.

It was inolved in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck, but never caught sight of it. Much of the Edinburgh's service during the war was guarding convoys.


FINAL VOYAGE

The Edinburgh was escorting the eleven ship convoy QP-11 on April 30, 1942, when it was torpedoed by the U-456 and began to list. Fast action by the crew in closing the watertight bulkheads prevented sinking.

More to Come. --Cooter