The SS Laurentic was a Harland and Wolff-built ocean liner, launched in 1908 for the White Star Line’s Liverpool-to-Montreal service - built at the same Belfast shipyard, by many of the same workers, who would go on to build the RMS Titanic a few years later.
The Ship
Smaller than the Titanic, the Laurentic measured around 169 metres (554 feet) in length, against the Titanic’s 269 metres, with a beam of about 21 metres (67 feet) compared to the Titanic’s 28 metres. Displacing nearly 15,000 tons and carrying up to 1,660 passengers across three classes, her twin engines and three propellers made her one of the faster ships of her era.
War Service
At the outbreak of the First World War, the Laurentic was requisitioned as a troop carrier for Canadian forces, before being converted into an armed merchant cruiser in 1915, serving in the Indian Ocean and Far East.
Final Voyage and Sinking
In January 1917, the Laurentic set sail from Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia, carrying 3,211 gold ingots - around 40 tons, valued at roughly £5 million at the time, likely intended to help settle Britain’s war debt to the United States. After a brief stop at the Royal Navy base at Lough Swilly, County Donegal, to disembark sick crew members, she struck two mines laid by German submarine U-80 on the night of 25 January 1917, sinking within an hour in around 40 metres of water. A failure in the ship’s power system hampered rescue efforts in bitterly cold conditions; 354 men died.
Recovering the Gold
Given the scale of the treasure, the Royal Navy conducted an extensive salvage operation: by 1924, over 5,000 dives had recovered all but 25 of the gold ingots, with a further 5 salvaged in 1932. Around 20 ingots are believed to remain on the seabed to this day. The wreck is privately owned, though diving rights have since been granted to companies offering diving expeditions to the site.
