Possible Gold-laden Russian Shipwreck Found off S. Korea

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July 19, 2018

Searchers have discovered a very large and potentially very gold-laden shipwreck off the coast of South Korea.

The ship was the Dmitri Donskoii, a 5,800 ton armored cruiser that sailed the waters in that part of the world in the last two decades of the 19th Century. The ship fell victim to Russia's own scuttling exercise during what would become one of several defeats that led to a Japanese victory in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War. The ship is thought to have sunk with a large amount of gold onboard. One estimate put the possible value of the hoard at $130 billion. Russian historians, however, have cast doubt on the ship's identity as a "treasure ship," saying that the government would have much more likely put such a large amount of gold on a train.

Shinil Group, which found the wreck off Ulleungdo Island, said that it had identified the ship by comparing still visible elements to historical blueprints. The big clue, though, was finding the word "DONSKOII" carved into the stern.

The multinational salvage crew, employing submersibles, found the wreckage at a depth of more than 1,400 feet, about a mile east of the island, which lies between South Korea and Japan. Also identified were cannons, long-distance guns, machine guns, anchors, stacks, masts, decks, and armor.

The company had been searching for the wreck for several years. Plans are for salvage to start in the next few weeks. The ship had been the target of previous expeditions, all of which went bust.

The ship set sail in 1885 and served in the Mediterranean and Baltic before joining other warships in the Pacific, in response to initial Japanese success against Russian ships there.

The Battle of Tsushima resulted in much damage to several Russian ships and was ultimately a victory for Japan. The Donskoii was not one of those sunk in the battle; the ship was damaged, though, and fell behind the rest of the retreating fleet and so was scuttled on May 29, 1905, so it could not be seized.

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Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2018
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2019
David White