Niagara (ship)
The '\'Niagara'' was a 13,415 gross ton ship, length 165.5m x beam 20.2m, two funnels, two masts, triple screw, speed 17 knots. Accommodation for 290-1st, 223-2nd, and 191-3rd class passengers. Built by John Brown & Co, Glasgow, launched on 17 August 1912. On 19 June 1940 while on voyage from Auckland to Vancouver, off Bream Head, Whangarei, New Zealand, she struck a mine laid by the German Black Raider Orion and sank in 125 meters of water. No lives were lost but a large consignment of gold went down with the ship. On 2 February 1941 the resting place of the Niagara was located. Armed only with a viewing diving chamber, a radio and a grab lowered from the surface the brothers William and John Edwards Jonstone successfully recovered more than eight tonnes of gold after blasting a hole in the hull of the ship.
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