recovery. Cutting into the wreck by divers was deemed more appropriate for a war grave than the traditional 'smash and grab' explosives-oriented methods. The consortium of specialist companies for the project was then formed: Wharton Williams as managers, OSA and Decca. This group was contracted to Jessop Marine to attempt a recovery of the gold from the bomb room of the Edinburgh. In April 1981, the OSA survey ship Dammtor, with Decca surveyors embarked under the direction of former Royal Naval Survey officer John Clarke, began searching for the wreck in the Barents Sea. The area was approximately north of the coast of the USSR and Norway. After less than 48 hours, Decca discovered the wreck at , about NNE off the Soviet coast at the Kola Inlet. The depth was . Deploying a Scorpio ROV, Dammtor took detailed film of the wreck, which allowed Wharton Williams and OSA to evaluate a recovery project. The survival of her twin sister ship lying in the Thames, permitted management and later the diving team to inspect and absorb the layout of the compartments surrounding the bomb room and, not least, the scale of the challenge in cutting into the ship 800 feet down in a hostile and remote location. Later that year, on 30 August, the OSA dive-support vessel Stephaniturm steamed to the site from Peterhead, and the diving operation began in earnest under the leadership of former RN Clearance Diving Officer, Mike Stewart. On 15 September 1981, diver John Rossier found the first bar of gold. By 7 October, when bad weather finally forced the cessation of the diving operation, 431 of 465 ingots had been recovered. At the time the haul was worth in excess of £40,000,000 sterling (in 2020 worth around £140,000,000).This bullion recovery project created a World Record in deep diving which stands to this day. A further 29 bars were brought up in 1986 by the Consortium, bringing the total to 460, leaving five unaccounted for. Footnotes References External links HMS Edinburgh memorial site IWM Interview with survivor John Napier IWM Interview with survivor Edward Starkey Town-class cruisers (1936) Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne 1938 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom Shipwrecks in the Barents Sea World War II shipwrecks in the Arctic Ocean Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations Maritime incidents in April 1942 Maritime incidents in May 1942