It was a symbol of love from the woman he hoped to spend his life with. But when Stanley Cubiss drowned as his ship sank during the First World War, the engraved engagement ring from his sweetheart Florence went with him.

The gold band lay undisturbed at the bottom of the ocean for almost a century - but 89 years later it has been reunited with the sailor's family.

Two months ago amateur diver Peter Brady, 51, spotted the ring half-buried on the seabed during a routine dive around the wreck of HMS Opal, off the coast of the Orkney Islands.

Initially, Mr Brady thought the find was a piece of the ship's machinery, but on closer inspection he realised it was a ring bearing the inscription: "To Stanley from Flo, March 1916."

Mr Cubiss, 25, who worked in the ship's engine room, perished with 187 other men when the Opal, along with HMS Narborough, ran aground in a snowstorm on January 12, 1918.

Mr Brady and diving partner, Bob Hamilton, 61, found the ship's casualty list on the internet and managed to track down Stanley's 78-year-old nephew, Malcolm Cubiss.

"I received a call out of the blue telling me that divers had found this ring," said the retired brigadier from York. "My uncle is often spoken of in the family and I know the tragedy of the Opal well.

"They came to show me the ring and I was astonished. It's a million-to- one chance.

Source: This Is London
Tags: Ring | Stanley Cubiss

Posted by Spluch on 12 November, 2007 at 20:51 | Permalink |