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14 Volume 73 Number 1
15 February 2021
records office in London and all these were vital and as long as he understood he was “no cure”
in the search. Keith knew a fisherman who owned what could he lose. It was a decision he later re-
a fleet of trawlers operating from Aberdeen all the gretted.
way to the Barents Sea named Ken Knox. Keith Any marine operations of this complexity in the
described the area he was looking at and Ken told Barents Sea had to be conducted during a brief
him he knew where the wreck was because he weather window in September and October each
had got his nets fast on it and had spent a lot of year. At any other time, the weather and sea
time and money getting them untangled. That state were too severe. GPS was in its infancy in
spot was marked on a chart to avoid it again. Ken those days and Decca fixes were used extensively
believed it was the Edinburgh because when the to find one’s way around northern seas. Decca
nets were recovered, he discovered some switch- fixes had faults but if experts were operating the
es in the netting that one of his ex Royal Navy system properly, good results could be obtained.
crew members told him were only used by the
Royal Navy. The first search
though proved
Armed with this unsuccessful and
Keith Jessop ap- had to be put off
proached the until the follow-
Salvage Associa- ing season. Dur-
tion to obtain ing this search a
permission to Russian spy
conduct deep trawler shad-
water search to owed them. It
locate HMS Edin- tried everything
burgh. This is to try and ob-
when the “WAR struct the search
GRAVE” problem including at one
cropped up and point almost col-
Keith gave as- liding with the
surances the Stephaniturm
wreck would not the research
be touched at vessel. It wasn’t
this point. The possible to put
Salvage Associa- down buoys to
tion knew where assist in the
this was going Admiral Stuart Bonham-Carter on the Bridge of HMS Edinburgh search. The ra-
but they kept tionale was the
quiet at that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Bonham_Carter “War Grave” is-
stage. Keith was sue, and the local authorities would not allow the
now CEO of Jessop Marine Salvage Co Ltd and he wreck to be disturbed. It also occurred to the
went to the offices of Seaway in Oslo with all his searchers that the location noted down by Bon-
research material. Seaway had all the ocean- ham-Carter where Edinburgh had gone down may
going vessels and the side scan sonar equipment have been deliberately falsified to conceal the ex-
which would be needed for the deep-water arctic act location of the wreck and its cargo. It was
search. Just prior to this he had been approached clear to Keith that this wasn’t going to be an easy
by a suave, slick, and smooth-talking individual task. Unsuccessful on this first try the search was
named James Ringrose. He claimed to be an ex- called off.
RN Lieutenant Commander, an RN Hydrographer
and a personal friend of HRH Prince Charles who Keith had realised that he was now dealing with a
had been his CO aboard the minesweeper HMS lot of contact information and he needed a lawyer
Bronington. Prince Charles’ assistance Ringrose to wade through the legal issues related to the
asserted, could prove invaluable in accessing per- search. This had been on his mind when he was
mission to recover the gold. The royal connection contacted by a lawyer from Manchester, England
didn’t impress Keith but he thought it might be named David Bona. Keith knew Bona from when
valuable to have an RN hydrographer on board he had worked at a legal firm Jessop Marine had

http://www.noabc.com/