From the information received from WERNER K. HOFFMANN (327-LIFE-1987) we learn that U-859 made the trip to the Far-East with 32 tons of 'QUICKSILBER' which is otherwise known as mercury, for use in making of munitions. Their voyage was cut short on 23 September, 1944 when they were sunk by HMS TRENCHANT off Penang. There were 20 survivors.

U-859 made a much larger contribution to history on 28 August, 1944 when she sank a lone LIBERTY SHIP, the SS JOHN BARRY. To U-859, she was just another ALLIED cargo ship that needed to be sunk, but little did they know the cargo aboard this particular LIBERTY SHIP. She carried 1,800 tons of silver bullion (in ingots) and 3 million freshly-minted Saudi Arabian silver riyals. At the time of the sinking, the cargo of raw silver was valued at 26 million dollars, but today the value is something in excess of 320 million dollars and the metal value of the riyals is nearly 6 million dollars.

Don't rush to the Gulf of Aden with your SCUBA gear all tuned up; the wreck is claimed by the Sultan of Oman and we are told that he has contracted with the same group that recovered the Russian gold from the cruiser HMS EDINBUROUGH in the North Sea to recover the loot. Besides, how many SCUBA divers are checked out for depths exceeding 6,000 feet? Yep, SS JOHN BARRY is more than a mile down.