[00:01.040]--- lesson 32 A lost ship
[00:06.040]--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
[00:11.760]--- Did the crew of the Elkor find what they were looking for? why?
[00:19.960]The salvage operation had been a complete failure.
[00:23.880]The small ship, Elkor, which had been searching the Barents Sea for weeks, was on its way home.
[00:30.960]A radio message from the mainland had been received by the ship's captain instructing him to give up the search.
[00:39.280]The captain knew that another attempt would be made later,
[00:43.320]for the sunken ship he was trying to find had been carrying a precious cargo of gold bullion.
[00:50.960]Despite the message, the captain of the Elkor decided to try once more.
[00:57.160]The sea bed was scoured with powerful nets and there was tremendous excitement on board when a chest was raised from the bottom.
[01:06.320]Though the crew were at first under the impression that the lost ship had been found, the contents of the chest proved them wrong.
[01:14.680]What they had in fact found was a ship which had been sunk many years before.
[01:20.680]The chest contained the personal belongings of a seaman, Alan Fielding.
[01:26.320]There were books, clothing and photographs, together with letters which the seaman had once received from his wife.
[01:34.200]The captain of the Elkor ordered his men to salvage as much as possible from the wreck.^“
[01:39.840]Nothing of value was found, but the numerous items which were brought to the surface proved to be of great interest.
[01:47.200]From a heavy gun that was raised, the captain realized that the ship must have been a cruiser.
[01:53.360]In another chest, which contained the belongings of a ship's officer,
[01:57.720]there was an unfinished letter which had been written on March 14th, 1943.
[02:03.360]The captain learnt from the letter that the name of the lost ship was the Karen.
[02:08.880]The most valuable find of all was the ship's log book, parts of which it was still possible to read.
[02:16.560]From this the captain was able to piece together all the information that had come to light.
[02:23.200]The Karen had been sailing in a convoy to Russia when she was torpedoed by an enemy submarine.^“
[02:30.880]This was later confirmed by a naval official at the Ministry of Defence after the Elkor had returned home.
[02:38.360]All the items that were found were sent to the War Museum.