SS Gairsoppa
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
|
|
| Name: | SS Gairsoppa |
| Operator: | British-India Steam Navigation Company |
| Port of registry: | Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Ordered: | by British Shipping Controller as SS War Roebuck taken over by BISN |
| Builder: | Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow |
| Launched: | 1919 |
| Completed: | November 1919 |
| Renamed: | During construction |
| Identification: |
|
| Fate: | Sunk, 16 February 1941 after being torpedoed by a German U-Boat. 85 fatalities. Wreck now lies at a depth of 4,700 metres. |
| Status: | Wreck |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Steam merchant ship |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 399 ft 3 in (121.69 m) |
| Beam: | 52 ft 2 in (15.90 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft 8 1⁄4 in (7.830 m) |
| Depth: | 28 ft 5 in (8.66 m) |
| Installed power: | 517 nhp |
| Propulsion: | triple expansion engine, coal |
| Speed: | 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h) |
| Crew: | 81 |
The SS Gairsoppa was a British steam merchant ship built in Jarrow and launched in 1919. After a long civilian career, she saw service during the Second World War. She was named in honour of the town of Gerusoppa on the banks of River Sharavati in Karnataka, India, which due to its easy access to water transportation and as a distribution centre for crops including pepper, was the commercial capital for centuries.
She sailed with several convoys, before joining Convoy SL 64 in February 1941. Gairsoppa left the convoy when she exhausted the majority of her fuel and was making her way to Galway, Ireland, when a German U-boat fired a torpedo that sank her with the loss of 85 lives.
The wreck of the Gairsoppa was discovered in 2011, and it was announced that an operation to recover its cargo of silver bullion, with an estimated value of £150 million, would begin in 2012. On 18 July 2013 Odyssey Marine Exploration, of Tampa, Florida, reported that it had recovered 48 tons of silver, making this probably "the deepest, largest precious metal recovery in history" (as the Gairsoppa rests in 4,700 metres (15,400 ft) of water).
Gairsoppa was 399 feet 3 inches (121.69 m) long, with a beam of 52 feet 2 inches (15.90 m). She had a depth of 28 feet 5 inches (8.66 m) and a draught of 25 feet 8 1⁄4 inches (7.830 m). She was propelled by a 517 nhp triple expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller. The engine was built by Palmers. It had cylinders of 27 inches (69 cm), 44 inches (110 cm) and 78 inches (200 cm) diameter by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. It could propel the ship at 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).
Ordered by the British Shipping Controller as SS War Roebuck from Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow, she was taken over during construction by the British-India Steam Navigation Company, and completed as SS Gairsoppa.Gairsoppa was completed in November 1919. Her port of registry was Glasgow. She was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 141924. On 29 April 1930, she ran aground at Fulta Point, India. She was refloated undamaged later that day.Gairsoppa used the Code Letters GCZB from 1934.
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