The Romanov (Romanoff) fortune

[Narked1]

Hi All,
It's been a while since I've posted here (have been reading the posts though), and I have a research question concerning the "supposedly" lost jewels of the Romanov (or Romanoff...depending on spelling) family during the Russian revolution of 1917. One of the rumors that I am attempting to chase down pertain to a Romanov family member smuggling the family jewels (which were considered state property BTW) out of Russia before the revolution and, along with various members of the royal family, headed for the Suez Canal. Some sources say that the ship carrying the Romanov fortune sank within sight of Alexandra. Others say that the ship hit a mine off of Port Said and sank.

All of my research indicates that the ship sank off of Port Said. What I am looking for is here some comparative information about the sinking of the ship carrying the Romanov fortune. (That's why I haven't been specific about what ship, C.O., passengers, etc.) Would like some unbiased information.

Oh, and Anastasia wasn't onboard! So don't go there.....

If anyone on here has even a bit of information that they would like to share it would be greatly appreciated!

Mike

"Chasing a dream by opening a dive center on the North Coast of Egypt....Just want to dive into history here!"

 

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[Voldbjerg]

Hi Mike,

I hope your venture in Alexandria is successfull. Did you ever find the wreck of the Orient?

Regarding your new target - try to ask the same question on the warsailor forumhttp://warsailors.com/forum/list.php?1 they are very strong on modern ship wrecks.

Regards

V

 

[Narked1]

Hi Voldbjerg,
Thanks for the link. Will post there shortly. Was hoping someone here might have been interested in the "supposed" lost Romanov royal jewels that were said to have been smuggled out of Russia just before the 1917 Revolution. Modern shipwreck or not, it's one of those local legends here that anyone who dives here is keeping an eye out for.

Anyway.....yes! Found the L'Orient! Took 4 additional dives after my last post on the subject. Good research put me in the area, but bad viz made me miss it a few times (I actually think I was within 25-meters of it at one point and never saw it!). Poor viz, and frustration at not being able to find the wreck, led us into other more promising areas and we located 3 other wrecks (modern) which are safe and fun to dive on with customers. The L'Orient was well worth the wait. Found a couple of "goodies" that Franck Goddio apparently missed, but left them in place as I am currently building a working relationship with the Egyptian Underwater Archaeological Department. They think it is so cool that a self-financed American is interested in running a dive business here in Egypt with a focus on Underwater Archaeology and history (Which there is LOTS of here). Has garnered quite a bit of support along the way. May actually start training some of their personnel in a few weeks.

The dive venture is coming along well here. Won't advertise for it directly here out of respect for all of us that don't like spam. But if you go to the PADI.com website and do a search for dive centers in Egypt we're third on the list. (Oh! and we're the first PADI Dive Center on the North Coast of Egypt.....Kinda proud about that, in case you can't tell! ) You can check out our website from there if you so desire.

Hope all is well at your end as well,
HH,
Mike

 

[Darren in NC]

...a Romanov family member smuggling the family jewels (which were considered state property BTW) out of Russia...

Best to your venture, Mike. Since the USSR is no longer an entity, wouldn't this be a great treasure (with no legal claims) to find? What about the current members of the family?