Author(s): John Beasant

Second World War

On the night of August 28, 1944, three torpedoes from the German submarine U-859 sank the American merchant ship USS John Barry in the Arabian sea off the eastern seaboard of Oman. The holds of the John Barry contained over $300 million in silver bullion. The 7200-ton ship broke into two pieces and sank to a depth of 8500 feet, more than one and a half miles.