The story of the salvage of a million pounds in bullion, told in dramatic form by TERENCE HORSLEY
' In June, 1929, the Sorima Salvage
Company embarked on the most ambitious task they had yet attempted. .... On May 20th, 1922, the liner Egypt, carrying bullion valued at £1,054,000 ... had reached a point 25 miles south-west of Ushant ... a thick fog lay over the water ... A large cargo steamer struck the Egypt ... in twenty minutes the liner was at the bottom of the sea.
' The finding of the wreck was likely to be the most difficult part of the task . , . we could not count on more than ten working days, of four hours each, in a month.
' By noon, on August 30th, 1930, we were certain that the Egypt lay beneath us ... in 66 fathoms (396 feet) of water.'
Extracts from ' Seventy Fathoms Deep ' by David Scott , to whom the author is indebted
Taking part :
David Tennant , James Tovey , Ronald Simpson , Cyril Nash , Robert Craven. Percy Rhodes , Robert Speaight , Edward Craven , Eric Lugg , Wallace Evennett , Matthew Boulton , Geoffrey Wincott , Pascoe Thornton , Adeline Hook.
Production by GORDON GILDARD
NEARLY twelve years ago the P. & 0. liner Egypt was in collision with a cargo steamer, off Ushant. The liner sank, and although a large number of her passengers and crew were rescued, the bullion which she was carrying, which was valued at over a million pounds, went with her to a depth of nearly 400 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic.
Up to that time divers had never explored depths greater than 200 feet, and even at this depth the amount of work which rubber-suited divers could do was limited. It was some years before a diving shell was designed which permitted diving at even 300 feet, and it was not until 1929 that raising the gold from the Egypt became a feasible proposition.
The story of the Egypt's gold is told by Terence Horsley , author of the play, in an illustrated article on page 623.