Lost ring returned after 89 years under water

[ageezer]

Ring found after 89 years

A sailor's engagement ring has been returned to his family - after 89 years on the bottom of the sea.

Stanley Cubiss drowned when his ship sank during the First World War, reports the Daily Mail.

Amateur diver Peter Brady, 51, spotted the engraved engagement ring from his sweetheart Florence half-buried on the seabed.

It was during a dive around the wreck of HMS Opal, off the Orkney Islands, two months ago.

Initially, Mr Brady thought it was a piece of the ship's machinery, but on closer inspection he realised it was a ring bearing the inscription: "To Stanley from Flo, March 1916."

Mr Cubiss, 25, who worked in the ship's engine room, perished with 187 other men when the Opal, along with HMS Narborough, ran aground in a snowstorm on January 12, 1918.

Mr Brady and diving partner, Bob Hamilton, 61, found the ship's casualty list on the internet and managed to track down Stanley's 78-year-old nephew, Malcolm Cubiss.

"I received a call out of the blue telling me that divers had found this ring," said the retired brigadier from York.

"My uncle is often spoken of in the family and I know the tragedy of the Opal well. They came to show me the ring and I was astonished. It's a million-to-one chance."

Mr Brady added: "When I got to the surface I realised it was a ring and it was perfectly preserved. It was an amazing moment."

[JBM]

Thats the way to go.

What a nice family heirloom. Jerry.

[Slvrbck903]

All the money in the world can't buy you the buzz you get when you find something whilst detecting and return it to the rightful owner.. thats what metal detecting is all about...well done

[Corinne Mills]

quite apt for this week too

[damnyankeeuk]

kind of surprised they were diving there....wouldn't it have been a designated war grave site?

[Corinne Mills]

Only a handful of the wrecks around Orkney are designated war graves - this one isnt one of them

this page may be of interest

http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/fowm/law.htm