What is the legend of the German treasure ship Lorelei or Loreley that was destroyed during World War 2 by a British sub?

Answer 1

It sounds as if there is some confusion here. There was no German treasure ship called the Lorelei.

The Lorelei is a massive rock on a bend in the Rhine near St Goarshausen. It used to be said that the treasure of the Nibelungs (Burgundians) lay under the rock.

From about 1800 onwards a new legend arose about the rock - that the Lorelei was a beautiful young woman, a siren, that distracted sailors on the Rhine and lured them to shipwreck and death.

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I *just* watched an episode of the television program, "The Last Frontier", entitled "Ghost Ship". This episode was from 1984 and allegedly detailed the discovery of an lost Nazi ship called the Lorelei. Although no gold was found, many treasures were, including a love letter to the Captain from his wife, hoping they'd be reunited soon. It's an intriguing story and I wish I could find more information about this ship and it's story. The episode mentioned rumours of lost Nazi gold and other treasure but the love letter in the Captain's strongbox brings home the fact that true treasures have nothing to do with wealth. When it airs again, I'll try to note any geographic information and try to update this page. Perhaps the shipwreck was registered by Mr. Stoneman or the Foundation for Ocean Research. If you have any additional information, I'd be grateful for it! All the best to you and yours!

*This episode aired on ichannel, (www.ichannel.ca) on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 6:00 PM.

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This could be a simple spelling error. I assumed the ship would use the spelling of the German siren, L-O-R-E-L-E-I, but the transcript spells it L-O-R-E-L-I-E.

The transcript excerpt from this episode reads,

"DIVE WITH STONEMAN AND FOUNDATION MEMBERS OFF THE COAST OF Venezuela TO FIND THE LORELIE, A LEGENDARY World War II VESSEL REPORTED TO CONTAIN THE LONG BURIED GOLD OF NAZI CONQUEST."