In 1945, the Japanese ship Awa Maru, carrying 40 tons of gold, sank near the waters off Niushan Island in Fujian Province, becoming a fascinating and mysterious event. This incident occurred in the final stages of World War II, when countries around the world were plunged into fierce warfare. During the war, Japan looted a large number of gold, silver, jewelry and other valuables, including 40 tons of gold, 12 tons of platinum, hundreds of boxes of antique treasures, etc. In order to transfer these precious items to the Japanese mainland, Japan decided to send the cargo ship Awa Maru to carry out this mission.
The Awa Maru was a Japanese ship that was originally used to transport goods. Due to Japan's desperate need for resources during World War II, the Awa Maru unfortunately became a vehicle for transporting supplies needed for the war effort. On April 1, 1945, the Awa Maru set off from the Philippines to the Japanese mainland with 40 tons of gold, a ship full of precious goods, Japanese military dignitaries and their families, and a crew of 2,129 people. This gold is a wealth plundered by Japan from the occupied territories and occupied countries, and is worth up to $5 billion. In addition to gold, the ship carried a large number of other valuables and supplies.
In those war-torn times, the fate of the Awa Maru was destined to be extraordinary. It is recorded that the ship was attacked by the U.S. military while passing through the waters near Niushan Island. In the beginning, when the American submarine "Queenfish" discovered the Awa Maru, it was considered to be a violation of international law and that it was carrying weapons and ammunition. Asked to stop the ship for inspection, but the Awa Maru was so weak that it ignored the warnings of the United States and sailed at high speed. Eventually, the U.S. submarine fired 2 torpedoes at the Awa Maru. The Awa Maru, which suffered a heavy blow, sank to the bottom of the sea two minutes later.
In an instant, a large number of goods and people fell with an explosion. 40 tons of gold, 12 tons of platinum, dozens of tons of silver, more than 40 boxes of jewelry and antiques, more than 3,000 tons of tin ingots, tens of thousands of tons of other materials, as well as precious works of art, artifacts and other property, also sank into the deep sea with the Awa Maru. Of the 2,129 people, only one was rescued by the U.S. military. According to the international law of the sea, because the wreck site is in Chinese waters, the wreck is owned by the mainland.
In the decades after the end of the war, in the seventies and eighties, China repeatedly salvaged the Awa Maru wreck. However, after a long period of search and salvage work, although the location of the sinking of the Awa Maru was discovered, the actual salvage work did not find gold or other treasures, only some tin ingots, rubber, mercury, niobium-tantalum and other substances, about more than 5,000 tons, and other valuable things were not found, even the fossil skull of the Peking Man mentioned by former US President Nixon was not found, especially the large amount of gold, not a single piece was found, which is really strange.
Why was no gold found in the seabed salvage operation? This question has plagued people for years. There is a theory that 40 tons of gold may have been carried by looters in the surrounding area after the ship sank, but this theory is untenable, as there was no such salvage technology in those days. The Americans believed that it was the ship that had a large amount of ammunition hidden on it at that time, and that the US torpedoes only sank the ship, and that it was the explosion of the bomb that blew up the cargo inside. In addition, the topography of the seabed is complex, and some material may have been transferred to no whereabouts.
In addition, deep-sea salvage technology is limited in all its aspects, making it a very difficult task to find and salvage treasures from the bottom of the sea. All things considered, we may never know what happened to the Awa Maru after it sank, and the whereabouts of the 40 tons of gold may forever remain a mystery. Of course, there are also many people who believe that there are no valuables such as gold and platinum on board, and that they have been transferred to other ships by Japan long ago, and that the Awa Maru is just a cover-up. What do you think?