 He served at HMS Excellent as a staff officer until late January 1917 when he was ordered by the Admiralty to recover the forty-four tons of gold bullion that sunk with the "Laurentic" off Lough Swilly on 25 January 1917.Using the mooring lighter, "Volunteer", he and a crew of divers were successful at first and recovered three boxes of the gold.Then late winter gales drove them off the site for a couple of weeks.