The salvage operation had been a com-
plete failure. The small ship, Elkor,
which had been searching the Barents
Sea for weeks, was on its way home. A
radio message from the mainland had
been received by the ship's captain in-
structing him to give up the search. The
captain knew that another attempt would
be made later, for the sunken ship he was
trying to find had been carrying a
precious cargo of gold bullion.
Despite the message, the captain of the
Elkor decided to try once more. The sea-
bed was scoured with powerful nets and
there was tremendous excitement on
board when a chest was raised from the
bottom. Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship
had been found, the contents of the sea-chest proved them wrong. What they
had in fact found was a ship which had been sunk many years before.
The chest contained the personal belongings of a seaman, Alan Fielding.
There were books, clothing and photographs,together with letters which the
seaman had once received from his wife. The captain of the Elkor ordered his
men to salvage as much as possible from the wreck. Nothing of value was found,
but the numerous items which were brought to the surface proved to be of
great interest. From a heavy gun that was raised, the captain realized that the
ship must have been a cruiser. In another sea-chest, which contained the
belongings of a ship's officer, there was an unfinished letter which had been
written on March 14th, 1943. The captain learnt from the letter that the name
of the lost ship was the Karen. The most valuable find of all was the ship's log
book, parts of which it was still possible to read. From this the captain was able
to piece together all the information that had come to light. The Karen had been
sailing in a convoy to Russia when she was torpedoed by an enemy submarine.
This was later confirmed by a naval official at the Ministry of Defence after the
Elkor had returned home. All the items that were found were sent to the War
Museum.
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