Part of the SS Laurentic lying at the bottom of the sea.
THE tragic tale of the SS Laurentic is to be told in a new exhibition to mark the centenary of its sinking.
The Laurentic was a passenger ship but during World War One it was used by the government to transport gold.
The White Star Liner struck a German mine at the mouth of Lough Swilly, in Co Donegal in 1917 and more than 350 men lost their lives.
Derry’s Tower Museum is asking to borrow any items salvaged from the ship.
The SS Laurentic was carrying more than 3,000 gold bars when it was sunk.
The majority have been recovered but 22 remain on the bed of the Swilly.
Photographs and artefacts from the ship, and oral histories of its sinking, will form part of an exhibition opening next year.
Ronan McConnell from the Tower Museum said numerous salvage attempts meant there were a number of items recovered over the years.
He said: “We know there’s a lot of material from the Laurentic out there, large pieces of brass, driftwood tables, items like vanity mirrors and tobacco tins – this was a luxury liner so there were quite a lot of luxury items on the ship.”
The Tower Museum Exhibition opens on January 25, 2017.
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