Liberty ships

[Narked1]

A couple of questions for the more experienced researchers here. First, did the Liberty ships of WWII carry anything that we could consider treasure (Gold/Silver/Currency)? According to my internet research, some did (please remember that I'm stuck in Egypt and the internet is my only real research tool...the local archives are pretty much "off-limits" without a LOT of government letters and stamps). Second question concerns where I can find manifests for the Liberty ships? Online sources would be preferable, but I'll take what I can get and work with it. Got a Liberty ship here that was sank off the coast of Egypt and am trying to find out what was onboard when she sank. Probably nothing of value....but who knows? J

Any help would be appreciated,
Mike

 

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[Cablava]

Liberty ships often carried bullion around (much more than anyone would care to admit), usually to pay America for the ships and things they sold the Brits during the war. As for the manifests, you would not normally find the bullion on the main manifest but on a smaller document usually from the the shipper. The Bank of England. I have not seen anywhere on the net for the manifests so far but then I have not looked either. The bullion room was under the bridge, but the gold and such was not always kept there Gold often being put in the chain locker.


Any idea which ship it is? If she was sunk by a Uboat then check uboat.net as they have records of most of the attacks on ships (you need to know which uboat). Do you have the position.

I have a list of Libships sunk somewhere.

Mike

 

[Cablava]

THISTLEDORM is one there, trucks and jeeps etc no bullion.

 

[Mackaydon]

During WW II, certain ships carried Strategic Materials that included Palladium (about $350 per ounce today). At least one of those ships was sunk by Uboat off the northern coast of South America. I believe the shipments were coming from South Africa (SA and Russia at the time were the largest producers). The shipments would first come into Rio or other coastal ports then start up towards the US. Some never made it, the U-boats were waiting; especially in the spring of '43.
Don.....

 

[Narked1]

Thanks all for the info. No, I don't know the name of the ship, and yes, I have a location. Have been there a couple of times. I also know that it was salvaged shortly after the war so any bullion that may have been onboard would not be there today. Was just thinking about hitting the site again and look for any "scraps" that may have not been recovered. Doubtful, but still worth a couple of day's diving just to have fun and maybe get lucky.

The ship appears to be a Liberty ship that was cut in half by a torpedo as the ship was making a run for safe haven in the port of Marsa Matruh. The forward half of the ship continued to move ahead as the aft section seperated and sank in deeper water. The ship is currently resting upright with the top of the pilothouse just beneath the surface of the water at low tide and what used to be the second deck is at about 22 meters approximately 100 meters from the foot of Rommel's Cave seaside access. The decks inside the superstructure have all collapsed and lay on the bottom inside. Interesting dive as the major part of the engineering plant is exposed and one can pretty much see the entire layout of the boiler(s), main engine, and the feed pumps. There is a debris field which trails well aft of the ship into deeper waters of 60+ meters that I have not had the opportunity to see yet since it is so difficult, and expensive, to get NITROX and Tri-Mix gas mixes here on the north coast of Egypt.

Am currently reading "The Hunters and the Hunted" by Jochen Brennecke (German war correspondent/journalist who served in the German navy) which was published in 1952 and details operations of many of the U-boats that operated from 1939 until the end of the war. Hoping for a clue as to the events of the sinking and possibly a clue to the identity of the ship.

Cablava, the Thistlegorm did carry bullion at some point during the war. And you are correct in saying that there is no bullion there now. But there are LOTS of Morgan Trucks, Communication vehicles, BSA motorcycles, and Enfield rifles, as well as a locomotive engine and some rail cars. Quite a bit of unexploded ordnance in the aft section as well. Have dove there at least a dozen times over the past 4-5 years. Unfortunately, the wreck has suffered at the hands of the thousands of recreational divers that have dove on it over the years and the Egyptian government is now considering closing it to diving due the amount of exhaled air that is trapped inside the ship and causing it to decay at a fairly rapid rate.

Again, thanks all for the info.
Mike

 

[Narked1]

OOPS! Sorry guys. Belay my last. The ship that I have here is NOT a Liberty ship. Just went back and reviewed my list of Liberty ships. Apparently no liberty ships were sunk off of the coast of Egypt......Alas, back to square one in trying to identify the ship. Sure looked like a Liberty ship to me (sigh).

Mike

 

[divetech]

hi

has any of you tryed to get info from Bank of England.

i am interested i some liberty ships that i know have gold/silver as cargo
but the amount is another thing i cant get any info any where.

so if any of you can help it would be good

best regards
Kristian

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

[=Narked1 ]
OOPS! Sorry guys. Belay my last. The ship that I have here is NOT a Liberty ship. Just went back and reviewed my list of Liberty ships. Apparently no liberty ships were sunk off of the coast of Egypt......Alas, back to square one in trying to identify the ship. Sure looked like a Liberty ship to me (sigh).
Mike
***********
Sheehs Mike, I am going to p** in your regulator for misinforming me hehehe. sniff

Seriously, have fun and cross your fingers, you just might find a super goodie.

Tropical Tramp

 

[Emma]

Divetech,

The Bank of England is a mine of gold
They have plenty of archives.
You need to get a special authorization from them to access the archives.
But some files are classified as being "sensitive". You'd better not to tell them the truth about your research.
I have been once refused a file because it had supposedly been destroyed.... a real lie because they have something to hide I guess.
Good luck

Emma

 

[Cablava]

There are just a few people who have been in the BoE and come away with all the data (mostly a long time ago). Some can still get in but newcomers seem to be unwelcome.
I afraid you have to be sombody to get in there. But one thing is for sure there is lots of good stuff secreted in the archives.

If Emma has trouble the rest of us have no chance

 

[LadyDigger]

Narked 1....if you have any names...I could probably do some newspaper searches. Can't promise anything, but I will do what I can. Just let me know.

HH......and good luck........Annmarie