More than 400 Soviet gold bars lay on the floor of the Barents Sea for nearly 40 years before a complex salvage operation recovered almost all of them. A Wartime Mission Ended With the Loss of 465 Gold BarsHMS Edinburgh departed Russia on April 28, 1942, carrying 465 gold bars belonging to Joseph Stalin. The recovery team lifted the cargo in metal cages carrying 40 gold bars at a time. Soviet observer Igo Ilijn reportedly described the shipment as “the very best Soviet gold.“ The recovered gold was divided, with 161 bars going to the consortium and the remainder shared between the Soviet Union and Britain’s Department of Trade.