Chapter 142 The Gains of This Trip
Xiao Peng took a comfortable hot bath and shaved off his beard. Bellucci also helped him cut his hair, which meant giving him a short buzz cut.
Ever since he spent 100 euros on a buzz cut at a hair salon, Xiao Peng bought a clipper to cut his hair at home. However, he always couldn't get a clean cut himself, so Bellucci solved that problem.
Xiao Hengheng and Xiao Camille were still excitedly showing their passports to Xiao Peng, but Fabian and Pascal pushed Xiao Peng directly into the study. "Xiao, Moreau said you found the Pescara?"
Xiao Peng nodded: "Yes."
He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and said, "Moro's marked location is basically correct. The coordinates of the shipwreck are seven nautical miles away from the location he marked, so basically the distance is quite close. Here are the coordinates."
"Seven nautical miles is still close?" Pascal widened his eyes.
Xiao Peng shrugged. "Do you think I've been idle all this time? I've searched the waters of Moreau Standard and found a total of 73 shipwrecks. Here are the coordinates, but they're basically worthless. It should be an ancient battlefield. Most of the shipwrecks are triremes, and there are also ancient merchant ships. Most of the modern ships are military vessels from World War II, and some are fishing boats. So, like I said, they have no salvage value!"
He pulled out his computer and said, "These are the pictures I took. The ocean currents there are quite strong, so there's a lot of mud and sand. Most of the shipwrecks are surrounded by mud and silt. This creates a vacuum that doesn't allow for decomposition. That's why many ships have been preserved. There may be more ships buried under the mud and sand that I haven't discovered. But there's nothing I can do, right?"
Pascal took Xiao Peng's laptop and, after just one look at the picture, his eyes widened. "You're saying this has no salvage value? This is an ancient Roman merchant ship! Look at this bottle! It's a 2nd-century Greek 'Sea Monster Urn' style pottery bottle."
Xiao Peng said, "Of course I know. The 'Roman Dock Museum' in Marseilles houses a lot of these things. It's free to visit. Classifying value by age and distinguishing between superior and inferior by social class is a cultural relic perspective. If there's a museum willing to pay for the coordinates of this shipwreck, then I'll sell it to them. If not, what's the value of these things? Let me ask you, how much would you pay for a 'Sea Monster Bottle Weng'?"
"I wouldn't pay more than two hundred dollars for it," Fabian said.
Xiao Peng spread his hands and said, "Look, Xiao Pa, you heard it too. Do you still think there's any value in salvaging there?"
Pascal did not answer the question.
As Xiao Peng said, these things do have great cultural value, but they do not have economic salvage value.
Fabian said, "Xiao, you're like a sea god! You found so many shipwrecks in such a short time? Did you find any worth salvaging?"
Xiao Peng suddenly laughed: "Is there a British U-class submarine that you are interested in?"
Fabian was stunned: "Aren't U-boats German?"
Xiao Peng said to Pascal, "Little Pa, teach him a lesson."
Pascal said, "During World War II, all German submarines were numbered with the letter U followed by a number. Their submarine classifications were simply Roman numerals. The British, on the other hand, used English letters for classification, and they had their own U-class submarines. During World War II, the British U-class submarines were their most valuable vessels, active in the Mediterranean and the nemesis of the Italian fleet. The two most famous submarines in the British submarine force during World War II were both U-class submarines. One was the 'Supporter,' which sank 22 enemy ships in the Mediterranean; the other was the 'Invulnerable,' which dodged over a hundred depth charges during a single combat mission and escaped unscathed."
Xiao Peng snapped his fingers: "Did you hear that? Don't think of the Germans when you hear about U-class submarines."
Fabian asked, puzzled, "You said there's a U-class submarine there?"
"That's not surprising." Xiao Peng took the computer and selected a few photos. "Look, a depth charge probably blew up the living quarters, and the whole crew was left to feed the fish. But the hull is still well preserved. What do you think? Pascal, do you want to salvage a submarine and put it in your yard as a souvenir?"
Pascal laughed after hearing this. "Although your idea is very good and very vivid, how do you salvage a submarine with a displacement of over 700 tons? Current technology is not up to the level of this, right?"
Xiao Peng shook his head. "Half a century ago, someone salvaged a 3,000-ton submarine that sank 5,000 meters below the sea."
"That's impossible!" Pascal shook his head.
But Fabian said, "What Xiao said is true. He was talking about K-129, the 'Azorean Project'."
After that, he explained to Pascal what had happened.
During the Cold War, a Soviet G-class submarine named K-129 mysteriously disappeared in the Pacific. The Soviets believed it was sunk by a US nuclear submarine, a claim the US vehemently denied. Their evidence was that the USS Swordfish, a nuclear submarine, was operating near K-129. Ten days later, the submarine arrived at Yokosuka Port, where it was undergoing emergency repairs after its periscope and access tower were severely damaged.
Regardless, the submarine sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, 5,000 meters below the surface. The United States wanted to salvage the ship in order to obtain the encrypted communication equipment and code books from the former Soviet submarine.
But it was five thousand meters below the sea! They couldn't salvage it openly, so they had to do it covertly. Finally, they found the legendary billionaire, Howard Hughes, the prototype of "Iron Man." Hughes lived up to their expectations and spent over two years building a nearly 200-meter-long super-sized ship, equipped with a 60-meter-long hydraulic crane.
They went to the place where K-129 sank, connected three hundred drill rods with a length of 18 meters together, and dived the salvage platform equipped with a mechanical claw to the seabed, and thus salvaged K-129.
However, it cannot be considered a complete salvage. The K-129 submarine broke apart when it surfaced, and they only brought back one-third of the submarine, including the former Soviet nuclear bombs and some equipment as their gains.
What happened next is quite interesting: originally a top-secret matter, two gangs of thieves simultaneously raided Hughes' home and engaged in a shootout. This incident also led to the public disclosure of Hughes's assistance to the CIA in salvaging a former Soviet submarine, nearly sparking a naval war between the two countries in the Pacific. Regardless, this salvage operation is undoubtedly a miracle in the history of deep-sea salvage, and it has enriched the field's experience.
Of course, this method cannot be replicated. Xiao Peng cannot build a 188-meter-long super salvage ship! This is almost the length of a medium-sized aircraft carrier!
"Let's wait until we have the capability to salvage the submarine." Xiao Peng said, "Now let me show you the situation of the Pescara."
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