Uncovering a Century-Old Mystery: Russian Shipwreck Laden with Treasure Valued at $100 Billion Resurfaces
The Discovery
On July 15, a joint team of experts from South Korea, United Kingdom, and Canada discovered the wreck. The 5,800-ton ship was a mile off the coast of the South Korean island of Ulleungdo and more than 1,400 feet below sea level.
The team used two manned submersibles, which are distinctly designed for research and exploration, to capture footage of the ship. It was positively identified as the Dmitrii Donskoi when one of the submersible’s floodlights picked out the ship’s name, written in Cyrillic characters on its stern.
The Shinil Group, a maritime salvage company based in Seoul, had been searching for the site of the wreck for several years before putting the international team together this year.
Images captured by the submersibles show cannons, deck guns, the anchor, and ship’s wheel encrusted with over a century’s worth of marine growth.
Shinil GroupPhotos of the Dmitrii Donskoi wreckage.
“The body of the ship was severely damaged by shelling, with its stern almost broken, and yet the ship’s deck and sides are well preserved,” the Shinil Group said in a statement.
The Dmitrii Donskoi was built in St. Petersburg and launched in August 1883. Designed as a commerce raider, it mostly operated in the Mediterranean Sea and the Far East.
The ship was assigned to protect transport ships sailing at the rear of the formation during the Battle of Tsushima that took place in May 1905.
Of the 591 crew, around 60 were killed and 120 injured before the captain anchored off the island of Ulleungdo and ordered his men ashore. The next morning, the ship was allegedly scuttled and the Japanese landing parties took the remaining crew prisoner.
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