Operation Fish
| Operation Fish | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Second World War | |||||
 HMS Bonaventure was forced to remain stationary for a time to protect a treasure ship |
|||||
|
|||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 United Kingdom Canada (naval) |
 Germany
|
||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 0 ships sunk | |||||
Operation Fish was the World War II evacuation of British wealth from the UK to Canada. It was the biggest movement of wealth in history.
In September 1939 the British government decreed that all people living in the UK had to declare their securities with the Royal Treasury. Even before Operation Fish convoys had been sent with millions of pounds' worth of gold and money to purchase weapons from the Americans. One such run involved Commodore Augustus Willington Shelton Agar and his ship HMS Emerald. At 23.18 on 3 October 1939 HMS Emerald dropped anchor in Plymouth, England. A short time later Agar was being briefed by Rear-Admiral Lancelot Holland on his mission. The written instructions are below.
Two million pounds in gold bars [UK£ 98,000,000 in 2017] is to be embarked in each ship to Halifax. A railway truck is expected to be placed alongside each ship about 01.00 October 7. Each truck is expected to contain 148 boxes each weighing 130 lbs. The total number of boxes is numbered Z 298 to Z 741 inclusive. Guards are to be put on each truck on arrival at the ship. Embarkation is to commence about 06.30 or as soon as daylight permits. Adequate steps are to be taken for supervision of each box from unloading from truck to stowage in ship. Finally a receipt is to be forwarded to C in C Western Approaches on the attached form.
On 7 October 1939 Emerald sailed from Plymouth for Halifax, Nova Scotia with the gold bullion from the Bank of England, bound for Montreal, Canada, to be used to pay for American war materials. As this voyage was under the strictest secrecy, the crew were outfitted with "tropical white" uniforms, to confuse German agents. In the company of the two old battleships, HMS Revenge and HMS Resolution and her sister ship, HMS Enterprise, as well as the old cruiser HMS Caradoc, the Emerald ran into some of the heaviest seas that Agar encountered. By the time the convoy reached Halifax, the Emerald had lost her ship's boats, rafts, and various depth charges, wires, shackles, and other valuable equipment, not to mention her spotter plane, a Fairey Seafox.
...
Wikipedia