The naval battle caused the Russian troops to bury treasure ships of $ 133 billion

Cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi sunk more than a decade ago off the coast of Korea can hide huge treasure of 5,500 gold barrels worth 133 billion USD.

The ship was sunk deliberately in the spring of 1905, to prevent treasure from falling into Japanese hands during the Russo-Japanese war. The number of gold on board is estimated at 200 tons.

Cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi is said to carry 5,500 gold barrels to the sea floor.

But it is not clear whether the gold warehouse still lies on the seabed with the ship.

Alexei Kojevnikov, a history professor at the University of British Columbia, said a cruiser like Dmitrii Donskoi joined the battle, with no reason to bring so much gold.'This is absurd,' he said.

Divers will inspect the wreck until the salvage operation officially takes place over the next few weeks. The salvage process is expected to take a month.

Gold tanker of the Russian imperial fleet

This armored cruiser was built in 1883, titled Grand Duke Dimitrii Donskoi. The ship is 93m long, 6,200 tons of water stretch and is recruited into the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Imperial Navy.

The Russo-Japanese war broke out in 1904 due to conflicts over control of the Korean peninsula and the Manchuria region. The Japanese Navy constantly plundered and sieged Russian-controlled ports.

Failure in the Strait of Tsushima caused the Russian empire to lose all battleships.

The Russian Empire's Baltic Fleet received orders to rescue. The powerful warship formation has a cruiser Dimitrii Donskoi. The ship is said to carry lots of gold coins to pay for supplies at foreign ports as well as pay salaries to officers and soldiers.

The money, gold on the wrecked ships in the fleet is also said to be transferred to the ship Dimitrii Donskoi.

On the night of May 26, 1905, when approaching the Strait of Tsushima, the Russian Baltic fleet was discovered by the Japanese patrol ship. The Japanese Navy mobilized the Combined Fleet of 40 warships consisting of multiple battleships, cruisers, destroyers and torpedo boats to participate in the raid.

The battle was fierce, when both Russian-Japanese naval forces were determined to live together. However, the Japanese navy proved to be superior both in combat and warships, causing heavy losses to the Russian fleet.

At the end of the battle, Russian fleet warships retreated, 8 ships were sunk over 4,300 officers and sailors killed, more than 6,000 were captured alive.

Journey to escape in vain

Japanese warships then had stronger firepower, higher accuracy than Russian ships.

Cruiser Dimitrii Donskoi is not directly involved in fighting because it is responsible for supporting transport ships in the fleet. Upon realizing the battle was over, the Dimitrii Donskoi ran at full speed to the northwest in hopes of returning to Vladivostok port.

Other ships in the Baltic fleet spread out in different directions to break down the Japanese fleet. Many ships were sunk and sailors had no chance to return home.

The ship Dimitrii Donskoi was more fortunate, far ahead of Japanese warships but was discovered by four Japanese patrol boats on the way to retreat.

Ivan Lebedev, the ship's captain, Dimitrii Donskoi, decided not to surrender, ordered the sailors to run at full speed, to take the ship to escape. Unfortunately for Dimitrii Donskoi, the Russian warship clashed with two new generation small Japanese cruisers. These ships have medium firepower but high speed, superior to Dimitrii Donskoi.

The pursuit was fierce until the area off South Korea's Ulleungdo island. Dimitrii Donskoi is an armored cruiser so it can withstand a series of shells from Japanese ships.

The vessel Dmitrii Donskoi is said to be sunk when carrying 5,500 gold barrels.

After 2 days of fighting, on the morning of May 29, 1905, the ships on the ship were exhausted, 60 people were killed and 120 others were injured. Captain Lebedev ordered survivors to evacuate the island, before sinking the ship Dimitrii Donskoi.

The Japanese fleet then landed on the island to capture the survivors who had just left the ship Dimitrii Donskoi. The sinking of warships that are no longer able to flee is a common tactic for navies of the countries during a long period of history, including World War 2. Rough diving equipment could not help Approach the wreck.

Most recently, the Korean company Shinil Group announced that it had found the wreck in severe damage. The company believes the 200-ton gold warehouse is still on board.

If the treasure is recovered, Shinil Group will be entitled to 50% of the gold, the remaining 100 tons of gold belong to Russia under the signed agreement.