SS Port Nicholson ( 1918 ) SS " Port Nicholson " was a British refrigerated cargo ship owned by the Port Line . She entered service shortly after the First World War and was sunk by a German U - boat during the Second World War . Her wreck has subsequently been discovered , attracting attention as she was rumoured to have been carrying a large cargo of platinum ingots and other precious metals when she was sunk . Description . " Port Nicholson " was long , with a beam of . She head a depth of and a draught of . She was assessed as , 5 , 338 NRT . She was propelled by four steam turbines of 967 nhp , single reduction geared , driving twin screw propellers . The turbines were built by Hawthorn Leslie , they could propel her at . " Port Nicholson " was a refrigerated cargo ship . She had of refrigerated cargo space . There were two refrigerating machines . Coolant was brine and the cargo holds were insulated with cork . Construction and early years . " Port Nicholson " was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at their Hebburn yard , and launched in November 1918 . She was completed on 13 May 1919 and delivered to her owners , the Commonwealth and Dominion Line . Her port of registry was London . The United Kingdom Official Number 143508 and Code Letters JWKB were allocated . These were changed to GRST in 1934 . She made sailings between the United Kingdom , and Australia and New Zealand . During her service life , she was involved in a number of incidents . On 23 October 1924 , she ran aground at Las Palmas , Canary Islands , Spain and was holed . She was refloated on 6 November . < / ref > " Port Nicholson " was twice damaged by fire . The first incident occurred while en route to New Zealand in 1928 , when her cargo caught fire , forcing her to put into Pago Pago . The second occurred while moored in Melbourne in 1937 , when the Government Cool Stores caught fire . " Port Nicholson " was adjacent to the wharves at the time , and had a cargo of cattle on board . Water was sprayed onto the livestock , saving them . In 1937 the Commonwealth and Dominion Line was re - branded the Port Line . " Port Nicholson " was involved in another accident in 1938 , when she collided with and sank the tugboat " Ocean Cock " , with the loss of four lives . Final voyage and sinking . With the outbreak of the Second World War , " Port Nicholson " remained in service , transporting cargoes around the globe . Her last voyage , in 1942 , was to take her from Avonmouth across the Atlantic to Halifax , via Barry . She was at Halifax on 14 June 1942 , and departed bound for Wellington , with an intended call at New York and a transit of the Panama Canal . She formed part of convoy XB 25 , one of the coastal convoy routes , that ran between Halifax Harbour and Boston . She was under the command of her master , Harold Charles Jeffrey , and was carrying a cargo of 1 , 600 tons of automobile parts and 4 , 000 tons of military stores . The convoy was tracked by the German U - boat " U - 87 " , commanded by Joachim Berger . At 4 . 17 hours on the morning of 16 June 1942 he fired a torpedo at the convoy , which was then off Portland , Maine . He fired a second torpedo a minute later , but the gale conditions at the time prevented him from observing the results accurately , and he recorded that while one torpedo had hit a ship , the other seemed to have missed . In fact , both torpedoes struck the " Port Nicholson " , the first in the engine room , the second in the stern . Two men in the engine room were killed immediately , and as the " Port Nicholson " began to settle by the stern , the remaining crew abandoned ship and were picked up by the Royal Canadian Navy corvette . The " Port Nicholson " did not sink immediately , and by dawn was still afloat . Her master returned to the ship , accompanied by the chief engineer , and Lieutenant John Molson Walkley and three ratings from " Nanaimo " , to see if the ship could be salvaged . While they were aboard , worsening weather caused the ship to suddenly start to sink . The party abandoned her , but their boat was overturned in the suction as " Port Nicholson " went down , drowning Jeffrey , Walkley , the chief engineer and a rating . The two surviving ratings were rescued by " Nanaimo " , which landed the survivors from " Port Nicholson " at Boston . Rediscovery . It was reported that the wreck of the " Port Nicholson " was discovered in 2008 by Greg Brooks , of the American company Sub Sea Research , but the discovery was kept secret until February 2012 . Brooks believes " Port Nicholson " was carrying a valuable cargo of platinum , gold , and industrial diamonds at the time of her sinking , payment from the Soviet Union for material delivered under lend - lease , and would now be worth around £2 billion . Brooks reported that two Soviet envoys accompanied the ship , and that the Soviet government reimbursed the US government for the lost payment . Underwater exploration of the wreck has revealed boxes too heavy to lift , that are supposed to contain the platinum ingots . The British , US and Russian governments may make claims over the cargo should anything of serious value be discovered . Several maritime and Second World War historians have cast doubts over whether the ship was carrying such a precious cargo , citing the lack of documentation , and that if the " Port Nicholson " had been carrying such a cargo , she may have been partially salvaged already .