SS Gairsoppa
The SS Garisoppa, like many ships, was lost in 1941 during World War II as the result of an attack by Germans. This British ship was a particularly unfortunate loss in the war, however. Though all 32 of the sailors made it off of the ship and onto lifeboats, only one actually survived and made it to shore as the wreck was 300 miles from land. In addition to the huge loss of life, 7 million ounces of silver was lost at sea.
The hugely valuable shipwreck was finally uncovered in 2011 and became the largest precious metal recovery in history. By today’s standard the 7 million ounces of silver uncovered is worth a whopping $210 million. The recovery was performed by the US company Odyssey Marine Exploration.
silver
Queen Anne’s Revenge was the infamous pirate Blackbeard’s flagship in the early 1700s. At 300-tons, Blackbeard added cannons to this ship making it ideal for attacking British, Dutch, and Portuguese merchant ships. The ship was run aground in 1718 near the coast of North Carolina. Though Blackbeard was able to escape himself and save some of the supplies by transferring them onto a smaller ship, much was lost in the shipwreck.
It’s hard to put a monetary value on the artifacts that have been found in the ship, as most of them have been preserved by a QAR archaeology team. Tens of thousands of artifacts of important cultural importance have been recovered so far ranging from navigation tools to storage items that give archaeologists insight to the period and pirate culture. Additionally, many more artifacts are still undersea waiting to be discovered and preserved by scientists!
HMS Sussex
Another extremely old shipwreck is the HMS Sussex, which was lost during a storm in 1694. Only two men survived this British Navy ship wreck, which occurred half a mile from the shore near the Strait of Gibraltar. This impressive ship had only been sailing for less than a year when it sunk!
In 2004 Odyssey was given permission by the British Royal Navy to uncover the sunken ship under the condition that Odyssey funded the recovery, split the booty with the government, and hand over artifacts that the government would want to preserve or display. Unfortunately, the project was halted by the Spanish government, and has yet to resume. Hopefully we’ll see the booty from this epic treasure hunt uncovered soon!
Tortugas
Not all shipwrecked valuables are silver and gold, and not all shipwrecks occurred in Europe! The Florida Keys have been a huge graveyard for shipwrecks, particularly post-colonial shipwrecks. The Tortugas shipwreck of 1622 is another project that has been undertaken by Odyssey Marine Exploration, making it the world’s first deep-sea recovery at 405 meters. Some of the most valuable booty to be uncovered from this project are the beautiful and detailed pottery and pearls.
Titanic
Perhaps the most famous shipwreck of all time, the Titanic was bound to be full of expensive treasures from the period due to the fact that it was carrying such wealthy and high profile people! In fact, there were more than $300 million worth of diamonds lost in the Titanic, so it’s clear why researchers would be so desperate to uncover the ship before it began to decay.
Much of the uncovered treasure from the TItanic was auctioned off last year, valued at $189 million in 2007. Check out some images of the famous auctioned treasure here!
Costa Concordia
It was said that the safety measures taken in constructing the Titanic made it unsinkable, an idea that was clearly proven wrong after the ship’s collision with an iceberg. Likewise, if you thought that more modern ships were safe from the fate of sinking, you were certainly proven wrong last year when the Costa Concordia sank off of the coast of Italy.
Over 4,000 people were onboard the cruise ship when it sank, and 30 are known to have died in the accident. While human casualties in shipwrecks are certainly more preventable and fewer than they used to be, the loss of valuable items is definitely comparable. An estimated $500 million – $1 billion worth of goods was lost when the ship sank. Luckily, Costa Concordia was insured for $513 million.
Saint Clair wines
If the prospect of silver and gold to be uncovered in shipwrecks gets your excited, just wait until you hear about the alcohol! Just last month thousands of bottles of New Zealand-based Saint Clair cases of wine were lost at sea in a shipwreck off of the coast of Mumbai. Lucky for Saint Clair, the winery requires buyers to purchase their wines before shipping, so it wasn’t them who lost out on the investment.
Just one case of the winery’s famous 2010 Pinot Noir sells for $516 – imagine the profit’s lost in the shipwreck, and the money to be made by an investment in recovering the wine, let’s say 100 years from now?
Heidsieck Champagne
Aged shipwrecked wines can be extremely valuable. In fact, the world’s most expensive wine was recovered from a 1916 shipwreck off of the coast of Finland. 200 bottles of Heidsieck Champagne, which was being shipped to the Russian Imperial family, was uncovered in 1997, and quickly became the world’s most valuable wine. Not only has it aged well, but it has an incredible story! Today, you can buy this wine at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow, but it’ll cost you $275,000 for a bottle!