In April 1981, the OSA survey ship "Dammtor", with Decca surveyors embarked under the direction of former Royal Naval Survey officer John Clarke, began searching for the wreck in the Barents Sea. The area was approximately north of the coast of the USSR and Norway. After less than 48 hours, Decca discovered the wreck at , about NNE of the Soviet coast at the Kola Inlet. The depth was . Deploying a Scorpio ROV, "Dammtor" took detailed film of the wreck, which allowed Wharton Williams and OSA to evaluate a recovery project. The survival of her twin sister ship lying in the Thames, permitted management and later the diving team to inspect and absorb the layout of the compartments surrounding the bomb room and, not least, the scale of the challenge in cutting into the ship 800 feet down in a hostile and remote location.