Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

March 19, 2010

Hi mac wonder if you can help, am trying to find the names of the divers who took part in diving for the Russian gold which was lost when HMS EDINBURGH sank. know that the operation was led by a man called jessops back in 1981 but i can find no names of the other divers in his team or the recognition of their part in the dive. Thanks for any information you may be able to give

regards
Dave

Dave,

It was Keith Jessop who recovered the gold from HMS Edinburgh, there is no mention of the names of his other divers.

see below:

Salvage Operations 

Jessop recovered the gold from the sunken HMS Edinburgh at the bottom of the Barents Sea in 1981
However it was not until 1981 that Keith Jessop was involved in one of the greatest deep sea salvage operations in history. One day in April 1981 Jessop's survey ship called the Damtor began searching for the wreck of the HMS Edinburgh in the Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean of the coast of Russia. The ship had been sunk in battle in 1942 during World War II while carrying payment for military equipment from Murmansk in Russia to Scotland. His company, called Jessop Marine, won the contract for the salvage rights to the wreck of the Edinburgh because his methods, involving complex cutting machinery and divers, were deemed more appropriate for a war grave, compared to the explosives-oriented methods of other companies.

In late April 1981, the survey ship discovered the ship's final resting place at an approximate position of 72.00°N, 35.00°E, at a depth of 245 metres (804 ft) within ten days of the start of the operation. Using specialist camera equipment, the Dammtor took detailed film of the wreck, which allowed Jessop and his divers to carefully plan the salvage operation.

Later that year, on 30 August, the dive-support vessel Stephaniturm journeyed to the site, and salvage operations began in earnest. Leading the operation undersea, by mid-September of that year Jessop was able to salvage from the wreck over $100,000,000 in Russian gold bullion-431 bars out of 465-making him the greatest underwater treasurer in history.

His autobiography Goldfinder written in 2001 tells the extraordinary story of Keith's life and the salvage of such underwater treasures as the Edinburgh.

Keith's son, Graham Jessop is now also a successful deep sea salvage diver having opened his own business.

See Keith's BOOK Goldfinder by Keith Jessop

Regards,
Mac.

Dave,

Are you aware of this Book from Amazon USA Booksellers? Stalin's Gold: The Story of HMS Edinburgh and Its Treasure by Barrie Penrose

Mac

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