It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie - a luxury passenger ship sunk by a war-time mine along with a secret cargo of gold bars.
But that's the true story of the Niagara, which went down off the Whangārei coast in June 1940.
There were 590 gold bars on board - a secret British payment for American weapons, as the US had not yet entered World War II.
A mission to recover the gold was quickly launched, and the salvage crew took up residence in Whangarei - next door to 14-year-old John Thompson.
More than 70 years later he told Newshub Nation about his adventures.
Watch the video for the full story.
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