HMS Edinburgh
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HMS
Edinburgh was a Town class light cruiser laid down
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England for Royal Navy. She was
launched in March 1938, and was commissioned in July 1939
and sent to Scapa Flow. She was extensively used as an
escort after the outbreak of world war tow, and was
refitted in March 1940. From December 1941 she was
assigned protecting the Arctic convoys with lend-lease
material shiiped to Murmansk. Under a journey from
Murmansk to Iceland commanding the escorts of convoy
QP-11, she was spotted 30.April 1942 by the German uboat
U-456. Two torpedoes were fired which both hit her stern,
where most of Edinburgh's cargo was stored, 4,5 tons of
Soviet gold bars destined for UK as payment for war
supplies. Edinburgh was still afloat and was
taken under tow, returning to Murmansk. Two days
later they were attacked by the three German destroyers
Z-24, Z-25 and Hermann Schoemann. Edinburgh was again hit
by a torpedo, this time mid ship, which sealed her fate.
The German destroyer Hermann Schoemann was also severely
damaged, and was scuttled by her own crew. Orders to
abandon ship was given, and soon after HMS Foresight sunk
her with a torpedo. The wreck was found in 1981 on a depth
of approx 240 meters, and a salvage operation to retrieve
the gold was launched. Including a second salvage
expedition in 1986, only five gold bars remains on the
wreck.
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| 72°N 35°E  Picture: HMS Edinburgh in 1941 Courtesy of Imperial War Museum, Public domain Last updated: January 2021 |
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