4K: THE MYSTERY OF THE EMPRESS OF BRITAIN

The mystery of the Empress of Britain. Was there a fortune in gold held in her vaults? Was there a conspiracy to secretly remove the gold from the wreck? We may never know for sure, but that was the rumour around when news came of the sinking of the Empress of Britain.
She left Southampton on her maiden voyage to Quebec on 27 May 1931. The ship was designed to carry 1,195 passengers ( She was the first passenger liner designed specifically to become a cruise ship in winter when the St. Lawrence River was frozen.
Empress of Britain was annually converted into an all-first-class, luxury cruise ship, carrying 700 passengers. For this role her size was kept small enough to fit through the Panama and Suez canals. Since speed was not as important on a cruise two of the four engines were shut down and the two outboard propellers retracted to prevent drag. To serve as a beacon at night during emergencies the three great funnels were illuminated with powerful flood lights. From the air the funnels could be spotted 50 miles away and ships could spot the funnels from 30 miles away. PAUSE
The night before her maiden voyage, the Prince of Wales himself decided to go to Southampton to bid bon voyage. His inspection of the ship caused a short delay but on Wednesday, 27 May 1931 the Empress of Britain left the dock at Southampton for Quebec. She made nine round-trips in 1931 between Southampton and Quebec. In December of 1931, she sailed on a 128-day round-the-world cruise to the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Holy Land, through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea, then to India, Ceylon, Southeast Asia and the Dutch East Indies, on to China, Hong Kong and Japan, then across the Pacific to Hawaii and California before traversing the Panama Canal back to New York. Nice. PAUSE
Filled beyond capacity, and with temporary berths in the squash court and other spaces, Empress of Britain zig-zagged across the Atlantic to avoid U-boats, arriving in Quebec on 8 September 1939. PAUSE At around 9:20 am on 26 October 1940, travelling about 70 miles northwest of Ireland along the west coast, Empress of Britain was spotted by a German Focke-Wulf FW 200C Condor long-range bomber The pilot strafed Empress of Britain three times and struck her twice with 250-kilogram (550 lb) bombs.
Only after returning to base in northern France was it discovered which ship the bomber had attacked. A report was sent to German Supreme Headquarters. Realising the significance, a reconnaissance plane went to verify; and the German news agency reported that Empress of Britain had been sunk. But, despite the ferocity of the attack and the fires, there were few casualties. The bombs had started a fire that began to overwhelm the ship. At 9:50 am, Captain Sapworth gave the order to abandon ship. The fire was concentrated in the midsection, causing passengers to head for the bow and stern and hampering launching of the lifeboats. Most of the crew, and passengers were picked up by nearby ships.
The U-boat fired a third torpedo which hit aft. The vessel began to fill with water and list heavily. The tugs slipped the tow lines and at 2.05am on 28 October, the Empress of Britain sank northwest of Bloody Foreland, County Donegal (off Ireland at 55-16N, 09-50W). In a moment, the tale of a fortune in gold which went down with the ship and disappeared. LONG PAUSE An Irish Times Report stated: The remains of the Empress of Britain, lies off Tory Island, where she was sunk in October 1940. It was known that she had been carrying gold bullion. The British Empire was shipping gold to North America to improve its credit and pay its war debt. PAUSE In 1995, salvagers found Empress of Britain upside-down in 500 feet (150 m) of water.

Theorists believe the skeleton is that of one of the crew who was double-crossed when the gold was stolen. There is no proof that this is more than a story. But, if government divers recovered the gold they would have retrieved the remains of their team member. PAUSE Thank you for watching. If you found this interesting, please subscribe, give me a thumbs up and check out my Patreon page. PAUSE Remember that wearing a mask inside common areas protects others as they protect you. PAUSE Fair winds my friends and stay safe.

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