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--- lesson 32 A lost ship |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- Did the crew of the Elkor find what they were looking for? why? |
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The salvage operation had been a complete failure. |
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The small ship, Elkor, which had been searching the Barents Sea for weeks, was on its way home. |
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A radio message from the mainland had been received by the ship's captain instructing him to give up the search. |
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The captain knew that another attempt would be made later, |
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for the sunken ship he was trying to find had been carrying a precious cargo of gold bullion. |
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Despite the message, the captain of the Elkor decided to try once more. |
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The sea bed was scoured with powerful nets and there was tremendous excitement on board when a chest was raised from the bottom. |
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Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship had been found, the contents of the chest proved them wrong. |
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What they had in fact found was a ship which had been sunk many years before. |
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The chest contained the personal belongings of a seaman, Alan Fielding. |
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There were books, clothing and photographs, together with letters which the seaman had once received from his wife. |
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The captain of the Elkor ordered his men to salvage as much as possible from the wreck.^“ |
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Nothing of value was found, but the numerous items which were brought to the surface proved to be of great interest. |
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From a heavy gun that was raised, the captain realized that the ship must have been a cruiser. |
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In another chest, which contained the belongings of a ship's officer, |
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there was an unfinished letter which had been written on March 14th, 1943. |
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The captain learnt from the letter that the name of the lost ship was the Karen. |
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The most valuable find of all was the ship's log book, parts of which it was still possible to read. |
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From this the captain was able to piece together all the information that had come to light. |
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The Karen had been sailing in a convoy to Russia when she was torpedoed by an enemy submarine.^“ |
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This was later confirmed by a naval official at the Ministry of Defence after the Elkor had returned home. |
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All the items that were found were sent to the War Museum. |
