August 04, 2023

On April 06, 1942 English cruiser "Edinburgh" at the head of a convoy of ships left Murmansk for Reykjavik. On board the cruiser were 93 wooden crates, which stored 465 gold bars with a total weight of 5.5 tons. The total amount of gold bars was about 90 million dollars (in today’s money) and were destined for the U.S. for commercial shipments. On its way to Reykjavik, the cruiser was torpedoed by German submarine and destroyers. "Edinburgh" was seriously damaged and British Rear Admiral S. Bonham-Carter, who led the operation, ordered British destroyers to strip the "Edinburgh" of its crew and finish the cruiser with torpedoes. The British ship sank with the gold at a depth of about 260 meters.

The gold was insured by Gosstrakh of the USSR and reinsured for 30% by the Great Britain War Risks Insurance Committee. Due to the occurrence of the insured event, the insurer paid the indemnity to the insured in the USA (having received its share from the reinsurer) and obtained ownership of the sunken gold.

The gold had remained undisturbed for almost forty years and all information about it, including the coordinates of the cruiser's destruction, was classified. Only in April, 1981 there were signed agreements between the USSR and Great Britain to involve the British private company "Jessop Marine Recoveries" for lifting the sunken treasures. Divers of this company managed to recover 99% of the gold and for their work they received 45% of the salvaged cargo. The remaining 55% was divided proportionally between the USSR and Great Britain.