This is now more than a week late, but I couldn't find any other threads on Scuba Board about Keith's passing and thought it would be of interest to some of you on the Underwater Treasures sub-board. His name might not be familiar to many in the United States, but Keith Jessop was a legendary figure in the commercial diving world for his part in the 1981 salvage of £45m of Russian gold from the wartime wreck of HMS Edinburgh in the Barents Sea.
Daily Telegraph obituary
Times obituary
The Edinburgh salvage story is, in my opinion, one of the all-time adventure stories, and it is ashame that it is not more widely known or remembered. It took place in one of the worst environments in the world, in the context of the Cold War and mutual suspicion between Britain and the USSR, and required incredible courage and grit from the team of saturation divers that brought the bars up. And, at the end of the day, it's about salvaging gold from the depths. What more could you ask for?
If anyone is interested in reading more about the Edinburgh salvage, and I cannot recommend it enough, have a look for Goldfinder by Keith Jessop himself - which you can pick up second-hand for very little - or The Salvage of the Century by Ric Wharton, which is admittedly a bit rarer these days.
Daily Telegraph obituary
Times obituary
The Edinburgh salvage story is, in my opinion, one of the all-time adventure stories, and it is ashame that it is not more widely known or remembered. It took place in one of the worst environments in the world, in the context of the Cold War and mutual suspicion between Britain and the USSR, and required incredible courage and grit from the team of saturation divers that brought the bars up. And, at the end of the day, it's about salvaging gold from the depths. What more could you ask for?
If anyone is interested in reading more about the Edinburgh salvage, and I cannot recommend it enough, have a look for Goldfinder by Keith Jessop himself - which you can pick up second-hand for very little - or The Salvage of the Century by Ric Wharton, which is admittedly a bit rarer these days.
