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Operation Fish was the World War II evacuation of British wealth from the UK to Canada. It was the biggest movement of wealth in history. ==Background== In September 1939 the British government decreed that all people living in the UK had to declare their securities with the Royal Treasury. Even before Operation Fish convoys had been sent with millions of pounds' worth of gold and money to purchase weapons from the Americans. One such run involved Commodore Augustus Willington Shelton Agar and his ship . At 23.18 on 3 October 1939 HMS ''Emerald'' dropped anchor in Plymouth, England. A short time later Agar was being briefed by Rear-Admiral Lancelot Holland on his mission. The written instructions are below. in ] is to be embarked in each ship to Halifax. A railway truck is expected to be placed alongside each ship about 01.00 October 7. Each truck is expected to contain 148 boxes each weighing 130 lbs. The total number of boxes is numbered Z 298 to Z 741 inclusive. Guards are to be put on each truck on arrival at the ship. Embarkation is to commence about 06.30 or as soon as daylight permits. Adequate steps are to be taken for supervision of each box from unloading from truck to stowage in ship. Finally a receipt is to be forwarded to C in C Western Approaches on the attached form.}} On 7 October 1939 ''Emerald'' sailed from Plymouth for Halifax, Nova Scotia with the gold bullion from the Bank of England, bound for Montreal, Canada, to be used to pay for American war materials. As this voyage was under the strictest secrecy, the crew were outfitted with "tropical white" uniforms, to confuse German agents. In the company of the two old battleships, HMS ''Revenge'' and HMS ''Resolution'' and her sister ship, HMS ''Enterprise'', as well as the old cruiser HMS ''Caradoc'', the ''Emerald'' ran into some of the heaviest seas that Agar encountered. By the time the convoy reached Halifax, the ''Emerald'' had lost her ship's boats, rafts, and various depth charges, wires, shackles, and other valuable equipment, not to mention her spotter plane, a Fairey Seafox.〔 When Winston Churchill formed his government in 1940 the war was going badly for the Allies. As a guarantee that the Empire could continue the fight if the UK was overrun, Churchill devised a plan to ship British wealth to the safety of Canada. Using their wartime powers the Churchill government confiscated the securities that the British people were forced to register at the beginning of the year and under the cover of secrecy moved them to the port of Greenock in Scotland. Then men sworn to silence loaded the wealth onto the ''Emerald''-class light cruiser HMS ''Emerald''. The ship departed on 24 June 1940 and with an escort of some destroyers sailed to Canada. Again another fierce storm almost ruined the operation when high seas forced the ships to slow their speed making them easy targets for any prowling U-Boats. When they finally reached Halifax, on 1 July 1940, the British treasure was transferred to trains and the gold sent to Ottawa while the securities were shipped to the Sun Life Building in Montreal.〔 In another Operation Fish convoy on 5 July 1940 five ships loaded with $1.7 billion (US$ billion in ), the largest movement of wealth in history.〔 Offshore they met their escort, which included the battleship , a cruiser and several destroyers. Trouble arose when one of the convoy ships, a Polish ship, the ''Batory'', loaded with treasure, had engine trouble and had to drop out of the convoy, escorted by only . The two ships encountered heavy fog and because of the dangers of icebergs were forced to sit dead in the water, easy targets for any U-boats that might find them. Finally, after repairs were made, both ships were able to make it to Halifax days after the other treasure ships had landed.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Fish」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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