A TEAM of shipwreck explorers believe they’ve found the real reason behind why Nazi U-boats sunk a ship carrying children — one of World War 2’s worst maritime atrocities.
For the City of Benares may have been targeted because Germany believed there was a secret cargo of gold bullion aboard.
Some 262 passengers and crew perished on the middle of night in September 1940 when the 11,000-tonne City of Benares was torpedoed while carrying evacuees to Canada.
Now divers have been exploring the wreck in a bid to find $7.2 billion worth of bullion.
Speaking to MailOnline, Will Carrier, operations director of Britannia’s Gold which carrying out the gold hunt, said “We will not touch the City of Benares.
“We will treat all these wrecks with respect but Benares is designated as a war grave and should be treated as such.
“It’s still a very sensitive subject.”
The $25 million recovery operation is scheduled for several weeks off the west coast of Ireland.
The treasure hunt follows 25 years of research which resulted in a database of secret gold movements from Britain to the US and elsewhere in World Wars I and II.
The gold was being sent by both the Government and private institutions to pay the US for weapons and other material.
By cross-referring secret Bank of England and government records with new archive material in Britain and overseas, the researchers believe they have pinpointed a series of Atlantic wrecks containing the gold.
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