Electroplated dish from the wreck of RMS 'Niagara', salvaged in 1941.

Plain oval dish, engraved in the centre: 'PRESENTED TO SIR WILLIAM CURRIE by J.P.WILLIAMS of the SALVAGE SHIP "CLAYMORE". THIS PLATE WAS RECOVERED FROM THE BULLION ROOM OF THE RMS "NIAGARA" SUNK IN 428 FEET OF WATER AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE HAURAKI GULF NZ 1941'.

One side of the rim has a monogram 'CA' inscribed 'ROYAL MAIL LINE'. Much of the plated surface has been worn off by being underwater. The base is marked 'Warranted hard & silver soldered'. The initials 'JJW' and 'JJ Williams' have been scratched on the base.

Sir Wiliam Crawford Currie (1884-1961), shipowner, became Chairman of P & O in 1938. He was later a Trustee of the NMM.

RMS 'Niagara' was a luxury liner built by John Brown & Co in Glasgow in 1913 for the New Zealand based Union Shipping Line, sailing to Vancouver, Aukland and Sydney. In 1940, during World War II, while carrying a cargo of gold bullion from Aukland to Vancouver to pay for munitions, 'Niagara' was mined by the German raider 'Orion' and sunk in Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Although there were no casualties, the ship and her cargo of gold were lost. Captain J. P. Williams of the salvage ship 'Claymore' led the salvage attempts in 1941, a record for deep water salvage, and after a year the majority of the gold bullion had been recovered. Most of the remainder was salvaged in 1953. In 1999 the still intact wreck was further investigated and filmed.