Rediscovered warship may contain over £100bn in gold

A SOUTH KOREAN salvage team has discovered the wreck of a Russian warship that was sunk in a naval battle 113 years ago. The vessel is rumoured to contain a trove of gold bullion and coins worth 150 trillion won (£100billion).

Dmitrii Donskoi, an Imperial Russian Navy cruiser, was discovered at a depth of more than 1,400ft, about one mile off the South Korean island of Ulleungdo.

A team made up of experts from South Korea, Britain and Canada discovered the wreck on Sunday and used two manned submersibles to capture footage of the vessel.

The company behind the discovery has promised to use a percentage of the money, if it is retrieved, to fund a railway line linking Russia and South Korea through North Korea.

The video includes images of extensive damage to the vessel, caused in an encounter with Japanese warships in May 1905, along with cannons and deck guns encrusted with marine growth, the anchor and the ship’s wheel.

“The ship’s body was severely damaged by shelling, with its stern almost broken, and yet the ship’s deck and sides are well preserved,” the Seoulbased Shinil Group said in a statement.

Launched in St Petersburg in August 1883, the Dmitrii Donskoi was designed as a commerce raider and fitted with both a full set of sails and a coal-fired engine. It spent most of its existence operating in the Mediterranean and the Far East and was deployed to Imperial Russia’s Second Pacific Squadron in 1904 during the Russo-japanese war.

The squadron was intercepted by a Japanese fleet in May 1905 at the Battle of Tsushima. The Dmitrii Donskoi managed to evade the attacking force, but was later intercepted heading for the Russian port of Vladivostok.

It is rumoured to have gone down with 5,500 boxes of gold bars, the fleet’s funds, as well as 200 tons of gold coins.

The Shinil Group says it is aiming to raise the ship in October or November.