Odyssey heads off on one of his trips. (Discovery Channel)In July 2012, the crew of deep-sea recovery team Odyssey Marine shipping (OME) found a record-setting of 48 tons of silver from a sunken World War II-era British vessel, the SS Gairsoppa.A crew was along for the ride, documenting the journey of three miles below the surface. This Sunday, Discovery Channel viewers will be able to ride along with the crew of OME to see firsthand looks like a deep-sea treasure hunt as during the broadcast of "Rush silver."
OME's Senior Project Manager Andrew Craig and CEO Mark Gordon spoke with Yahoo News about the trip and what viewers can expect.
"The biggest thing with this expedition is that we went looking for a wreck in such deep water. The Gairsoppa was sunk in water almost a mile deeper than the Titanic, "said Craig."We knew that the payload silver was on the poster, but what about where we might find him when we got there, really we didn't know when we started this adventure. "
"The challenge we had was how to open surgery a shipwreck at 15,000 feet in the water," added Gordon. "It was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack".
In fact, when OME recovered 48 tons of the precious metal, the discovery temporarily sent reeling world market prices of silver.
"I don't think anything will ever again that huge amounts of silver," said Craig. "These were only those rare times during World War II. The British Government had to get this back to the United Kingdom for the war effort ".
The history of Gairsoppa is fascinating. Was a steamship tram enlisted to help the war effort, along with many other issues. During the journey from India back to the United Kingdom, the ship ran low on fuel and separated from his convoy of 26 ships.
As it slipped off the road, the Gairsoppa was tracked down and torpedoed by a German u-boat. Thirty-six crew of the 86-man made in lifeboats, about 400 miles off the coast.
"These merchant seaman, was almost another army of people that nobody really knows," said Craig. "They were on boats that just don't have any protection. They were the luck of the gods as if they have even made back or not. "
After weeks adrift at sea, only three men made it to shore alive. And by the time the British medical staff has made for the lifeboat, only one man, Richard Ayres, remained alive.
"Richard Ayers was in water for 17 days before he eventually ended up on the South coast of England," said Craig. "Despite passing through that tragedy, continued to have a fulfilling life, returned to work on sea and lived 90 years before passing away in 1990."
Hosted by Mike Rowe, of the "Silver Rush" series also follow the crew as they explore HOW two other vessels with cargos worth a collective $ 1 billion or more: the SS Mantola, an ocean liner that sank in 1917 on the Irish coast and HMS Victory, the former flagship of the Royal Navy who had lost in 1744 during the housing now what it may be worth upwards of $ 1 billion in gold.
Gordon says OME discovered much more than the record-setting 1,023 Gairsoppa silver bars, including 1,700 tons of tea, burlap bags "filled with God knows what," Silver service set captain and other staff "really interesting" artifacts.
"We haven't finished. We're going back this summer, "said Gordon. "We have only recovered 42 percent of registered, insured".
Some of the 1,023 silver bar records discovered by Odyssey (Discovery Channel)
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