S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA Gold Case

Columbus-America Discovery Group, et al. vs. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, et al.

"Was the recovery of gold from the steamship CENTRAL AMERICA a masterpiece of ingenuity...or just easy pickings off an undisturbed ocean floor..."
Tony Germanotta, The Columbus Dispatch, Sept. 28, 1993

Date of Disaster/Recovery:
September 3,1857/September 11, 1987

Deposition Dates:
March 5, 1993 - June 8, 1993

Deposition Locations:
Columbus, OH
Seattle, WA
Carmel, CA
New York, NY
Houston, TX
Montreal, QC
Norfolk, VA
Sewanee, TN
Ft. Pierce, FL
Teaneck, NJ
Cambridge, MA

The story of the SS CENTRAL AMERICA begins in September of 1857, in which the ship, en route for New York City with 400 passengers and crew aboard, as well as 30,000 pounds of gold, was caught in a hurricane and sank. It would not be seen again until 1988. A group known as the Columbus-America Discovery Group, founded especially for the search and recovery of the CENTRAL AMERICA and led by Thomas G. Thompson, raised over $10 million with the help of 161 investors. The group recovered over $100 million dollars in gold and treasure off the eastern coast of the United States, to which thirty-nine insurance companies claimed they were entitled to due to paid damages. It was not until 1996 that the courts awarded 92% of the treasure to the Columbus-America Discovery Group and the remaining 8% to the insurance companies.