Top Secret Lost Military Cargo- Sinking of the SS Flying Enterprise
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2022
- As Christmas Eve 1951 approached, the 40-person crew and the ten civilian passengers on board the SS Flying Enterprise cargo freighter were looking forward to celebrating the holiday inside the ship.
The Flying Enterprise was on a trek from Germany to the United States, carrying tons of different materials. However, in the early hours of December 25, the freighter encountered one of the largest Atlantic storms of the century while crossing through the English channel.
The storm only worsened as the days went by, and as 40-foot-tall waves jerked the ship around, the crew suddenly heard gunshot-like sounds as the water caused large cracks in the ship's hull.
Despite the captain's efforts, his ship was sinking, and so was his precious cargo. The captain vehemently refused to leave the ship, and became something of a celebrity during those days. Still, modern historians claim there was more to this stubbornness than mere naval duty, and that the ship might have been carrying something far more precious than initially thought…
There is a very simple reason the Captain might have refused to leave his ship. Under International Law any ship that has been abandoned is subject to seizure by anyone that can do so. Had he left his ship any marine salvor that could drop a tow line onto her had a right to salvage her, and get paid for doing so. As long as he stayed on board she was not a derelict and nobody could seize her.
Well put! Fair winds and following seas! 🍻
The US after winning WW2 is not subjected to “international laws”
@@adrianvannorsdall6441 ???
Smart fella
From the Discovery channel's story, their was a cache of cash on board. There was also bars of zirconium in hull, not secured. The ship rolling hurricane winds, the bars
My late father and mother were staying at Falmouth when this happened - I wasn't born until two and a half years later - and dad talked about it several times. He'd picked up on the secret cargo story back then. Whatever she was carrying, Captain Carlsen and the English captain deserved every honour that they got - courage, dignity, honour, determination, seamanship, modesty, they displayed it all. Great men, both of them.
As xXx s as adc CD x c cacddccxxx Z xaccscacdcd as Z Xanax xXx dead a ccsscdcaccAssxacacasxsaxsss was a cdaqxfax a a a saw s
And so the Giza Stargate was Lost at sea........
Dont worry, always have the one in the arctic
@@Chappers-hd3di Antarctic. Colonel Jack O’Neal is with it.
HA! Nice.
Ba’als plan will fail though, the Tau’ri always win at the end of day.
Indeed.
Nice Conspiracy theory, but their were also rumors of it carrying gold.
While zirconium was quite valuable, it is quite unlikely the Captain would have been aware of it's value, whereas gold or silver bullion would be known to him.
The Captain's "Flying Enterprise 2" was a brand new ship This hero story was a huge news item back then.
Absolutely love the Dark channels . . Got to be some of the best content on TH-cam . . Period . . And this ain't my first rodeo!!!!!!😜👍🏿
There was no way the US was going to leave a cargo on the bottom that was so critical to its security and, could be easily accessed by anyone with the right resources.
I can give a first hand account of this tragedy as I was there at the time. My good friends father, Leslie Rogers first picked up the mayday call being a ham operator G2FQD in Falmouth, and relayed messages in the first instance. I was a school boy at the time & was aboard the vessel MARINA that was chartered by the Pathe news, we attempted to go out to the Enterprise but the conditions when leaving the relative shelter of Falmouth bay were too severe for what was an inshore pleasure craft of some 60ft. Falmouth town was packed with media from around the world, I have never seen so many people in my home town, I appear somewhere in various news clips in the crowds that thronged the Prince of Wales Pier Falmouth.
In 1960 the Italian company Sorima, was commissioned to retrieve the secret cargo. That's probably why they found a hole in the ship.
And the loss of the Zirconium delayed the launch of the Nautilus for a year!
‘Mysterious Hole” eh, Governments never tell the true story
“Mysteries” are invariably equated with conspiracies. 🙄
A government is a body of people
Sometimes, noteably ungoverned.
a secret cargo....means not telling
I believe I saw a documentary on this before. They did Salvage the wreck with a kind of dredge technique, literally chopping pieces of the ship apart to get at the cargo. I believe it was about this ship.
hi i was six years old and remember this from readiind thedaily newspapers as this was before most of Britain had television the newspapers were the only pictorial way to follow the story incidentally i could read before i went to school and my mother was always there encouraging me to read and helpin me with the words
There is no way anyone is shipping pig iron, and coffee from Germany to the US after the war. The fact that the cargo was stated to be so innocuous tells me it was extremely important. Let’s not forget that the US was trying to export German scientists and technology to the US after the war. The US was racing against the Soviet Union to gather more information from the Germans. This shipment was probably related to Operation Paperclip.
This is 1951 however.
@@WALTERBROADDUS Yes, but is there anything listed in that manifest that is worth the Captain nearly going down with the ship? My point is, no one is dying over coffee, scrap metal, and some cars. Especially when the ship wasn’t savable.
@@wheel1775 True - but even so, the ship herself meant a lot to him. I guess you're pretty close to the mark there.
@@johndavies1090 Maybe so. But let’s not forget that there was a mission to save some of the cargo later. Why cut a hole in the hull to save innocuous cargo? It’s easy to dismiss the story by looking at one fact. Based on the totality of the evidence in the video, there is definitely more to the story. (That being said, this is the internet, so who knows what’s true. I’m basing my decision on the video)
At the time, all the available scientists were already in the US, Russia, and a few in France and the UK.
Conspiracy Theories are enticing, or ain't ?
Wes Red Necks loves a good stories, neighbour.
Another great documentary. Keep it up guys!
A red circle AND a red arrow! Damn, thanks, I would have never noticed otherwise!
I remember my parent telling about how all of Denmark followed Captain Carlsen's efforts to keep the ship floating.
Carlsen is honored a lot more in the US than in Denmark, but it's nothing new or special that persons are not really honored in Denmark because "they only did what they where supposed to do !"
Well why did all of Denmark follow his efforts then?
@@Page-Hendryx Because there is a huge difference in what the official Denmark acknowledge, and what the general public ackowledeges.
As an example, a medal of valor in the army wasn't established until 1996 after a lot of pressure.
Thanks for telling an interesting story!!
The Flying Enterprise was on a Trek… I see what you did there! 🖖
Wonderful you find so many great stories and report so well on the events.
Thank you
Bob
England
That is one interesting story , l have never heard before , thank you.
Kurt Carlsen passed away in 1989 at 75.
Great Story. Thanks.
Gratz on 200k m8 \o
Thanks
Possibly your best story to date.
Yeah well, of course they salvaged the cargo! Who wouldn't, especially if that cargo could either give the enemy hints (or even a tangible advantage, if they were to use it themselves!) during the cold war!
Ya I worked on a cargo ship briefly on the great lakes and even in 20 foot waves looking down the deck seeing it flex and bow is scary. Ya wonder how far can this flex before something fails
She was a welded Liberty Ship, hurriedly launched via prefabrication in US yards to offset the wartime shipping losses. They were not built to last, though many survived into the 1950s.
What retired the Liberty and Victory ships was the shipping container in the 1960’s.
They simply couldn’t take them.
Yeah, I was gonna say that. I play a game called "U-boat" where I often send Liberty-class ships to the depths.
no it wasn't
Intriguing!
I remember this as a 4yr old at school in the south of England…….playgrounds were abuzz with the excitement of it all.
Helluva story. As long as Men go down to the Sea in Ships...
I well remember this item. It was on tv news in UK and in the daily papers. I was almost 9 years old.
“Where the zirconium MAY have been stored.” Damning evidence there, whot?
Superb storytelling as usual.
I sered in in England with the USAF. I would hardly refer to it as "dry land" ;)
How interesting, as a 6 year old little boy in England, I remember the story very clearly!!!
Me too!
I read the story shortly after in The Eagle. What did the narrator mean by 'The passengers were reluctant to transfer to a British ship'?
I think i recommended this story when the Dark Seas channel started 🤗
Surprise ending ! Good one .
Fascinating
From a news story, apparently two locomotives broke loose in the hold and that created the grand finale.
😂
very interesting episode
What an ending!
Ulterior implies lying. That is the wrong word for the captain's motives. His motives were honorable, not deceitful.
I work with two brothers who are Danish. Danes have my vote for the world's most stubborn people. They've been in ships since Viking times. They also love fishing.
Actually, it doesn't imply dishonesty. Ulterior may imply concealment, but not fabrication, and is therefore not dishonorable.
Not really. It just means other than stated or known. Basically a hidden motive. Doesn't have to be dishonest or mischievous. :D
I remember seeing newsreel of this event at the News Theatre in Bournemouth as a small boy.
Remarkable.
Man made hole in the hull ...... way to go US Navy ...... NEVER give up the ship ....or cargo ! 😁👍❤🇺🇸
Let's hope it was the US navy.
@@kdeuler Na the russkis.😳💩
@@kdeuler if you add NATO to that your more on track….
When you consider what country could USE the cargo, retrieve the cargo, do so secretly, and keep other from doing the same , and observing you do so. The only countries that can say yes to all of these are NATO countries, and given that the cargo was slated for the US navy , those NATO countries (at that time) were not going to participate in any action that would give that cargo to anyone other than the US NAVY
Heavens only knows what is “secretly” moved.
Shared.
For there to be a man made hole in the hull…Would require a support ship, a diving Bell and all the equipment and personnel to do that.
So how in the busiest shipping lane in the world nobody noticed any ships hovering above it?
Submarine and divers with cutting equipment.
@@mrh678 but, even so you would have some movement on the surface you would see air bubbles coming up if your divers are using cutting torches or something.
I scuba dive and you can clearly follow the tracks of a person in the water by watching the air bubbles on the surface. Then we can argue that they had rebreathers.
What goes down must come up even if it’s a mini submarine that area is so surveilled at this point.
the load shifted, the iron was not stowed correctly
Interesting.
You don't get cyclones in the Northern hemisphere
No, but we get hurricanes and tornadoes. One part of Birmingham is notoriously known as 'Tornado Alley'....
@@johndavies1090
A cyclone is a southern hemisphere hurricane, and spins in the opposiote direction.
Can you do a video on the Halifax Explosion?
Hi I have a video idea there is an abandoned military I think it's Royal Navy for memory submarine that has been abandoned through quite a few years not far from where I live that is called HMS Otama I was just wondering if you could make a video about it
Thanks
So, there was some kind of secret operation on the sunken ship to retreave whatever was important enough to go and get it out...
good luck in finding it with 50s teck in a ship tossed in a storm for days and full of other cargo
Of course they aren't going to say they had to do a salvage operation
Damn I want one of the vw's
Could The "Secret Cargo" been the "Der Glocke"?
Die Glocke
There is no doubt the Germans had nuclear capabilities but as far as “the bell” goes, that seems very far fetched. There very well may have been something similar but not what modern television likes to pretend. If you’re interested in that, as I am, check out Lost Battlefields, a channel by Tino Strucknan. He’s a historian who travels over Europe extensively and discusses WW2 at length. It’s not sensationalized at all. He’s got a series called “The Last Nazi Secret” where he goes through all kinds of General Kemmler’s tunnels and to the sites where the Nazi’s were working with nuclear materials. I have a feeling you’ll be enthralled with his stuff.
@@reagandow850 thanks for sharing! I have a new rabbit hole to dive into now!😁😁
@@reagandow850 It does seem far fetched, but then again everything the Germans did during the war was far fetched. They had jets, rockets, and the beginnings of nuclear weapons. We know the Soviets did get a hold of some scientists. Who’s to say the Nazi’s didn’t have some crazy anti-gravity device? The Nazis did destroy a lot of records.
Lots of comments on the greatness of the Capt. But he cant hold a candle to the greatest capt of all time, one worthy of admiration by all, Capt. Francesco Schettino
7:33 Ulterior motive indeed. The motive was clear and above board. As long as one member of the crew was still aboard, the ship wasn't abandoned. The moment the last one left, anybody who passed by could salvage it. That's the case no matter what the cargo is. Trying to make that look sinister is pretty perverse. Yeah, of course he stayed to protect the cargo. Did you think he was doing it for his health?
a man made hole? that's a crazy twist, what a way to end.
They were clearly carrying a stargate.
Transporting pig iron from Germany to the United States in 1951? More likely it would go the other way
Lot of scrap metal and germany needed the money
I'd like to see a high def video of the hole into the hull; that's someone knowing where to look.
@07.35 is famous German Boxer Max Schmeling.
One of the commenters mentioned this was a previous liberty ship. Such ships, which were the first all welded vessels, were know to fail due to brittle fracture. Poor welding practices and low quality steel led to carbon in the steel precipitating out along the welds, creating a brittle zone which would fail in stressful conditions.
Hello from Detroit Michigan brother thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise and for taking us on your adventure through time
The English Channel is only 25 miles wide. Why didn't the captain just sail into a port as soon as the storm started? Sure seems strange that it stayed out there for days.
Maybe gold 😎
Good ending
That last bit about the man sized hole tho
And now zirconium cost about 1k USD a ton...
When you cover stories like that, please include map/chart with location of wreck/subject if possible.
I did sail that area many times. One time sea was between 8-10 meters. Container vessel on which I was serving (220 x 30m, 34000 hp) came there with speed dropping (in next 24hrs) from 24 to 4 knots. Some ships around us were just running engines and staying in same position. Everything on board which was not fixed was broken. But it was good. From time to time it is OK to get that feeling like you going to die.
It gives you that ' born again ' feeling. ❤️
I agree. He kept saying "the English Channel", but from the dates and distances, it didn't sound like they were still in the English Channel anymore. The North Atlantic is not a sea to be taken lightly. (edit) From Wikipedia it says, "The ship was taken in tow on 5 January, when she was some 300 nautical miles (560 km) from Falmouth, Cornwall."
The Zirconium escaped! 😱
Mysterious hole? Like the ones in the Lusitania?
Same thing almost happened to me but I used upside.
I have to tell you dark seas that I enjoy your uploads they're very entertaining. I must say that this is my least favorite. It's has a lot of in you windows and conspiracies. I also know you put in a tremendous amount of work in these videos and you are very diligent in your work. If you couldn't find the evidence then it's very well hidden or not there. But please, please keep up the great work. 👍👍💯❤
🥒😵
🚢☢ ?
"In you windows???" You mean innuendos, I hope. 😅
@@Weemdog BRO SAID "IN YOU WINDOWS"!!!!! LMFAO I"M SO FUCKIN DEAD!! 😂😂😂😂😂
@@Weemdog ha ha ha yep,that's it. That's it tried spelling it, didn't look right. Embarrassing, but thanks. 😊👍👍💯
I don’t see the issue of the discrepancy between why he stayed. Fact is, he did stay. Protecting your government’s secret warfare technology, and assuring when not in the proper hands it is otherwise lost, is nothing to scoff or turn your nose up at. He made sure no other entity got ahold of the zirconium if it wasn’t, indeed, making to its destination. What’s the issue here?
They were carrying the arc of the covenant
They wanted to make cheap jewelry with that Zirconium .
Captian decides to stay on his ship. Clearly he is hiding something
If all crew abandon a vessel and it is savaged the owners have to pay more for the salvage.
@@patrickc3769 if all crew abandon a ship, anyone who salvages the ship, owns it. They can keep everything or sell it to anyone, including the former owner.
@@lowandslow3939 Well, the gd Amerikan government does not allow the outfits that find the treasures of Spanish galleons to keep all of the finds.
@@WJack97224 Well, actually, it was the Spanish government in the case of La Senora de Atocha found “near” Key West. Their case had some success because they were able to prove that the ship belonged to the Spanish Navy. Military vessels fall under different maritime laws than civilian vessels. I worked at sea for twenty years, and I was hired to take the channel 8 news crew from St. Petersburg, Florida out to the site and onto Mel Fischer’s ship to interview him days after they located the wreck. In the civilian world, you salvage it, it’s yours, but you are responsible for any environmental damage you cause in the process of salvage. As in fuel spills or the vessel sinking in a navigable channel or damaging a reef.
What did they do about all the gold that was on it?
Pig Iron? Why go through the expense of importing from overseas that we have billions of tons over here already?🤔
It was cheaper than what you produce. Capitalism was not invented in America!
The keel?
Was this a liberty ship
SOMETHING TOO DO WHITH PAPER CLIP OR NOT .
"The storm returned". It wasn't meant to be.
So did they really find a hole or just another story to sell newspapers?
When pig iron shifts...
Only 21 commercials...
More commercials
Than Story.
4:44 " in the middle of the English Channel" ????
She was 400 nautical miles west of Falmouth - nowhere near the English Channel,
why can't your advanced submarines fish it out ?
its the 50s
If the ship was sinking, why the hell would they worry about being picked up by a British ship??
why didnt the US Navy ship offer a tug of the ship?
🇺🇸
All that money spent to retrieve some cheap jewelry...
That ship was salvaged ,,back when men got shit done!! Can do will do attitude, back then!! 👍
Ship had the wrong name. Should have been " Floating Enterprise ".
Narration has several errors in it. Not up to your usual standards in my opinion,,,,,,,but still an interesting story.
If you can't find anyone to give you rights to the first hand account of what happened, just make a film about a conspiracy...
Who cares about the motivation for trying to save the ship, he still damn tried.
I served four years on a nuclear submarine. I’m not familiar with Zirconium being used with naval nuclear reactors
1.1. 1 Neutron-zirconium interaction. Zirconium alloys are used as structural components for light and heavy water nuclear reactor cores because of their low capture cross section to thermal neutrons and their good corrosion resistance. - ref. Internet
@@WJack97224 …. Thank you for the info. Something a coner probably wouldn’t know
Zirconium is used as a sheath for the fuel rods because it doesn’t absorb neutrons.
Pig iron & Coffee beans...from Germany?
At least give us a believable lie.
Jet airplane or rocket parts? I'd believe that.