TSAR’S BOOZE RECOVERED
A shipment of exotic French cognac and liqueur destined for Tsar Nicolas II’s palace in Russia’s St Petersburg has been recovered from a shipwreck in the Sea of Bothnia – more than a century after it was dispatched.
The shipment – believed to be last ordered by the Tsar before his assassination in July 1918 – never made it to Russia. It was loaded on to the SS Kyros in December 1916. The ship’s route was via neutral Sweden, but because of heavy ice departure was delayed until May 1917.
Unfortunately, the ship was intercepted by the German submarine UC58. Her captain decided to sink her because the cargo was considered contraband. The SS Kyros crew was transferred to a nearby ship and later all returned safely to Sweden.
The wreck – in 77m – was first discovered back in 1999 but had to be cleared from fishing nets to allow divers and ROVs to gain access.
Finally – in October 2019 – the Swedish salvage vessel Deepsea Worker was able to retrieve the stash of alcohol – 50 cases of De Haartman & Co cognac and 15 cases of Bénédictine liqueur (the brand’s now owned by Bacardi). It is not known whether the stuff is still drinkable. The Bénédictine brand was created more than 500 years ago by French monks.
FINDING ENDURANCE
The loss of the ship under the ice triggered one of history’s greatest survival stories. Shackleton and his 27 men spent weeks on the ice before using the ship’s lifeboats to reach nearby Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands.
The most remarkable part of the epic, though, saw Shackleton and five others sail the jury-rigged James Caird lifeboat 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia – across treacherous, freezing waters with scant navigational equipment. The remainder of the crew were rescued in August 1916.
A number of previous expeditions to find the Endurance have failed.
Beginning in January next year, a British-led team from Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute will use autonomous underwater vehicles to travel almost two miles under the ice, using co-ordinates taken by the Endurance’s captain, Frank Worsley, as the ship sunk.
A rival expedition is being launched by US shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who has been studying Endurance for more than 15 years.
