By CLARKE CANFIELD | Associated Press – 1 hr 59 mins ago


PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A shipwreck hunter says he has found the wreck of a World War II merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod with a load of platinum now valued at $3 billion — perhaps the richest hoard ever discovered at the bottom of the sea.

Greg Brooks of Sub Sea Research, in Gorham, Maine, said a wreck in 700 feet of water 50 miles offshore is that of the Port Nicholson, a British vessel sunk in 1942. He said he and his crew positively identified the hull number using an underwater camera.

Salvage operations should begin this month or in early March aboard a 220-foot vessel called Sea Hunter with the assistance of a remotely operated underwater vessel, he said.

"I'm going to get it, one way or another, even if I have to lift the ship out of the water," Brooks said.

Brooks said the Port Nicholson was going from Nova Scotia to New York and carrying 71 tons of platinum when it was torpedoed. The platinum was intended as payment from the Soviet Union to the United States, he said.

A federal court judge has granted him the salvage rights, he said.

Brooks has been in the shipwreck business for nearly 20 years, with his previous biggest find being from a pirate ship near Puerto Rico.

Finders Keepers.... Good for them. I wonder how many fish live(ed) on it until they found it? 700 feet is not to deep to rod and reel fish. Just takes a little longer to get them to the top...

"I'm going to get it, one way or another, even if I have to lift the ship out of the water," Brooks said.

Nice way to talk about what seems to be a war grave ...

The Port Nicholson (Master Harold Charles Jeffrey) was first hit in the engine room where two crew members on watch below were killed, a second torpedo hit aft and caused her to settle by the stern, while HMCS Nanaimo (K 101) (T/Lt T.J. Bellas, RCNR) took off the master, 80 crew members and four gunners. At dawn, the ship was still afloat and it was decided to reboard her to assess the damage and chances of salvage. The boarding party consisted of the master, the chief engineer and one officer and three ratings from the corvette. After they had boarded the vessel, wind came up and the rough seas broke the weakened bulkheads causing her to sink quickly by the stern. The men climbed down the ladders and got into the lifeboat but the suction of the sinking ship overturned the lifeboat, drowning the master, the chief engineer, the officer (Lt John Molson Walkley, RCNVR) and one rating. The surviving two men from the boarding party were picked up by the corvette, which then brought the survivors to Boston, Massachusetts.

uboat.net . . .

War is hell lassie, not pattycake

LMAO wrote:

War is hell lassie, not pattycake

What do you know about that ? You were busy dancing YMCA, get your belly and ear pierced in the US Coast Guard. Which must be the gayest navy in the world.

Which must be the gayest navy in the world.
---
I don't know. Guess in which navy the officers play "pompe le mousse"?

Cazeilles wrote:

LMAO wrote:

War is hell lassie, not pattycake

What do you know about that ? You were busy dancing YMCA, get your belly and ear pierced in the US Coast Guard. Which must be the gayest navy in the world.

Just like you and your Government Guaranteed Job.

.

A federal court judge has granted him the salvage rights, he said.

... better wait 'till after the elections because Lord Obama will confiscate it by decree and Holder will enforce the confiscation.



.

Caz, when you find it, you will not know what it is.


PUT IT BACK

thats a sweet find

good for him

This sounds plausible however I will need the exact coordinates and a schedule showing when the claimants will be in the area before I can believe it.

As for the war grave, the ocean has been one since the first cro-magnon paddled out on a rotten log to sneak up on a neanderthal.

Is it in American territorial waters?

If so, since this was a payment to the U.S. government, will they take possession or do the salvage rights give Mr. Brooks sole claim?

I'm sure they'll find a way to tax it anyway.

The salvager may have an issue with Lloyd's. They did huge business in WW2 insuring certain vessels carrying non military cargo. I suspect there are underwriters poring over the shipping register as we speak.

Nice way to talk about what seems to be a war grave.

For three billion I and a whole lot of others would dig up your deceased grandmother and the entire rest of your family going back ten generations. Realistically any human bones that were there initially are now sand or part of a reef somewhere.