Recovery of the Niagras gold a true story

BEFORE THE MAST TO TREASURE HUNTER.

This article was published in Australian Gold Gem and Treasure Hunter Magazine a short time after it was written. However I decided to post this article in memory of one of the finest human beings, I ever known and met. Even at the grand old age of 90, Captain Sir John Williams does not look his true age.
With an active mind, he can still recall his early days. He remembers seeing the Cutty Sark in Cape town when he was only 16 in 1912, also the fact she had been rigged out as a schooner.
He saw her twice after that, on the second occasion he recalls seeing a circular emblem on her stern with the words, 'In god we trust'. This had been removed the last time he saw her in London. Such was his interest in the sea that he joined the navy at an early age and holds the rare distinction of holding a square rigged Masters Certificate.

He witness the change to sail to steam and steam to diesel during his life at sea. During one of his spells from the sea during the depression, he formed a mining and cyaniding Company in Maryborough, which he called the Horseshoe Bend Hydraulic Sluicing Company and used 6 inch pumps powered by steam.

He eventually sold this and took part in a search for Lassiters Reef which he claims to have located but it only showed 2 dwts to the ton in assay, which at the time was not a payable proposition. With the outbreak of war John joined the Navy where he thought he could be of some service to the Country with his Master's Certificate.

Although he did not know it at the time, he would later take part in a vital exercise that could have changed the outcome of the war. It was a calm day as the R.M.S. Niagra sailed on her way towards San Francisco, The 14,000 ton vessel had spent the last 27 years making the same run. This time she carried a very important cargo which was much needed to pay for aircraft, tanks, munitions and other paraphernalia essential to the war effort in Britain.

Deep within her strong room lay eight and a half tons of bullion worth some ?2,500,000 sterling at the time and worth ?14,000,000 at today's prices. Gold was the only currency the USA would accept as payment, so it's safe arrival was vital. As the Niagra neared New Zealand, she entered a German minefield which had unknowingly been laid some 48 kilometres off Whangerri Harbour

Although she only hit one mine, the explosion triggered off another which buckled her plates and damaged her steering gear. Holed and taking water, the order to man the lifeboats was given together with instructions for S.O.S messages to be sent. Fortunately there was no loss of life and it took some time before the Niagra took her final plunge to the deep where she settled in 134 metres of water.

Within hours of the sinking, Whitehall in London were calling for reports of the feasibility of a salvage operation. One of John Williams business ventures was the formation in 1927 of the United Stevedoring Company, this was later changed to United Salvage Company. As a result he was requested to appear at the Flinders Training Base where he met Mr. Shane of the Commonwealth Bank representing the Bank of England.

During the talks that followed it was pointed out that the Niagra was deeper than anyone had ever worked before. After a great deal of debate John Williams accepted the challenge and assembled around him a top crew including John and Bill Johnstone as Diver's. The next problem was to obtain a ship which was to prove difficult as all seaworthy vessels were already pressed into Naval service.

However Captain Williams found the Claymore which had been built in Scotland in 1902 and had been lying in mud for three years. The Claymore was obtained, with a little help from the Secretary of State for the grand sum of ?10 a week. A great deal of work had to be done on the Claymore to make her seaworthy. Grass was growing on her decks and the entire upper structure covered in bird lime.

The Claymore proved to be ideal for the job as she only drew 2.7 metres of water. The German mines around the wreck had been set about five metres below the surface. While the Claymore was being made ready, David Isaacs was busy in Melbourne designing a diving bell which was eventually made in Castlemaine. It was 2.7 metres high one and a half metres wide at the bottom and had fourteen quartz glass windows within the mushroom head.

Inside soda lime was used to recirculate the CO2 given off by the diver. An Oxygen cylinder was also available. Lighting was externally supplied from the surface. One of the greatest problems to overcome was the nuisance of spinning. Alf Warren, suggested plaiting three wires together like a girl plaits her hair and that little problem was solved.

Today the Diving Bell is on loan to a museum in Castlemaine where it can be viewed by members of the public. I had trouble with my camera during a visit and the shots I took didn't come out. The diving bell was the main instrument of the success of the operation. A diver could work comfortably at depths over 120 metres for four hour periods.

This would be impossible for a hard helmet or scuba divers owing to pressure changes and diving technology available at the time. Finding the Niagra proved to be harder than first thought, it was eventually found by sweep towing until the drag wire snagged. This took two or tree months before the position of the Niagra was finally known.

Once the Niagra was located the diving bell was lowered to the bottom for an inspection, in order to work out how to gain access to the strong room. Also to identify the ship, to make sure it was the right one. It was the 31st of January and it had taken two months to locate her.

Captain Williams had already sent down a sounding lead with pitch attached to it which would pick up signs of the wreck. When it was returned to the surface tell-tale grey-red and white paint was present, the colour scheme of the Niagra. John Johnson, was lowered to the bottom in the bell. The descent took around three minutes, as he passed below the 100 metre mark his voice sounded over the telephone intercom system, 'Hold it, Hold the Bell' the steam winch stopped and the wire went taut.

'What's going on down there Johnno,' asked Captain Williams. Back came Johnstones voice, ''It's her, it's the Niagra all right, I can see her two funnels and a mast. She's lying over to her port side. There are two great holes in her side. There's a lot of debris on the sea bed, tins, luggage, suitcases. Hang about, give me a few moments I'm trying to do some sketches.' Those sketches were vital to the operation, for they had to locate the area of the strong room.

The next job was to blast their way into the strong room using gelignite. After each explosion a grab would go down to remove rubble. In order to follow the progress a cardboard model was made. At first the gelignite would not explode so to overcome the problem, the explosives were placed into boiler tubes and the ends sealed.

Great care had to be used with the explosives, for if they used too much, it was feared that the far wall would give in under the pressure sending the precious cargo deep into the engine room. It took eight months patiently working in this fashion to make a hole 20 metres long, 9 metres wide and eight metres deep until the strong room door was finally exposed. On the 12th October 1941 the final charges were placed and the strong room door was finally blown.

A special grab had been designed by Captain Williams, there was a great deal of jubilation once it was returned to the deck of the Claymore. Once the celebrations had died down Johnson was lowered down to the Niagra once more. His voice came over the telephone on the bridge of the Claymore, 'O.K. Skipper, send down the small grab, were going to give it a go.'
The metre wide grab with white jaws was slowly lowered, 'Steady now... a little to the right... steady...steady.. OK, let her drop,' Johnstones voice ordered.

The grab hit the door edge as it disappeared into the darkness, making a clanging sound. 'Take a bite,' said Johnson, his voice tense with excitement. 'Nope, no good, do it again, you'll have to go in again. This time there was no mistaking the sound of splintering wood as the jaws of the grab closed tight. 'O.K., take her up real slow, I want to have a look,' he commanded.

There was a long silence as the grab slowly started to rise out of the strong- room door. after several minutes Captain Williams voice came over the telephone, 'Johnno, what is it? What's going on down there? Finally after a long silence he said, 'Take the Bell up, I think I can see a box in the grab.' The gold was stored in boxes, in fact two bars each weighing 34 pounds and stamped with King Solomon's mines of Africa and numbered.

With the bell safely on the deck, spanners rattled and clanged on the lid of the bell as the crew got Johnno out of his steel cell in record time. They all waited impatiently for the steel grab to break surface. The atmosphere of excitement was so intense you could almost cut it with a knife.

Finally the grab broke surface, water draining from it even as it was hoisted over the deck. Slowly the jaws opened and out fell some foul smelling mud, finally the box dropped, breaking open as it hit the metal plates of the deck.

There gleaming in the sunlight lay two magnificent gleaming gold bars, untarnished, as if they had just left the mint. For a moment there was silence, then jubilation, cheering and shouting, handshakes, pats on the back, for this was the moment they had worked and waited so long for.
When all the cheering had died down and the crew passed the bars from one person to another, Captain Williams looked at his crew and said,' Gentlemen, I think, it's about time we spliced the main brace, will you all join me in the saloon.'

No more work was done that day, in fact the triumphant grins on each mans face made the months of back breaking work seem all worthwhile. By the end of the month 15 boxes had been raised. November was a great month for them, because they ended the month with 246.5 boxes.

Each box was worth ?8,460, by December the 9th they had raised ?2,397,600. They had recovered all but 9 bars within a 12 month period.

It was one of the deepest most effective salvage operation at the time. Not only was it conducted during wartime, but also in the middle of a German minefield. 'Those mines gave us a few anxious moments though, once when Bill Johnson was below, the bell was snagged by one of those mine cables. We had to get New Zealand minesweepers in a couple of times.
One of them even hit a mine and went to the bottom. '

I t hink a few guys died on that one.' Silence filled the room as the old man removed his glasses, with a tear in his eye and a lump in his throat, he quickly recovered his emotions. 'Then we were threatened by a Japanese submarine, we must have been lucky there, I think the japs thought the old Claymore wasn't worth a torpedo.'

When the old Claymore arrived at Whangarei Harbour, a truck from the Bank of England was waiting with a police escort to remove it's precious cargo. Captain Williams treasure hunting did not stop there, because he was asked to dive for a syndicate which had been searching for Benito Bonito's treasure at Queenscilff, Victoria.

They seemed a weird bunch of guy's there, although I was prepared to dive for them, we insisted on cash up front before we would do anything. Anyway they finally paid up so we did the job. We had to enter this underwater cave, we were told that inside was a ledge and on this ledge we would find a life size effigy of the Virgin Mary made of solid gold.

Everything was exactly as had been explained to us, the underwater cave, the ledge, except there was no effigy there. Back on the surface we were accused of all sorts of things, even stealing it. United Salvage of Melbourne was founded in 1930 by John Williams who still takes an active part in it, via Alan Calquhoun.
Treasure, there's plenty of treasure left, for example the City of Rayville went down with 4 to 5000 tons of lead. Today with lead at such a deflated price it's not worth the effort. Captain Sir John Williams was knighted by Lord Casey, for his efforts as chairman of the Australian National Line for 15 years.

In 1981 he wrote his autobiography which he called, ' So ends this day.' The first 1000 sold very well, so I'm having another 1,000 done, it's got everything in it and some more I haven't told you.' Today this mild mannered gentleman lives with his wife althea in one of the nicest suburbs in Melbourne. I was asked not to disclose his whereabouts, at his time of life he likes a little privacy.

Asked how much he got from the salvage of the Niagra, he replied, 'not much, about ?5000, after expenses, it didn't leave me with much but that's the Bank of England for you.' Asked if he would do it all again or change any part of his life,? 'Of course I would, if there was money to be made. For those hankering to follow in his footsteps, he gave this advice, 'Get all the gods you know on your side, because you'll need all the luck you can get.'

'You know I was born in Hull, England, I came out here to Australia and it's been very kind to me, for that I'm most thankful. You see, Australia, really is the lucky Country. Captain Sir John Williams, if he was alive today would be over 100 years old. As a tribute to a wonderful man who did great things with his life I am happy to post this article of mine in hope that history does not forget him. Happy Hunting.

In Memory of Captain Sir John Williams a great seaman and treasure hunter

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