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It was a savage act of war from which a legacy of beauty still remains and now this remarkable story of treachery, secret love and lost treasure is being retold in a new Hampshire exhibition from today.

The SS Persia exhibition being opened at the Maritime Museum was officially by Alison Kentuck, who holds the position of Receiver of Wreck at the headquarters of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency based in Southampton.

On December 18, 1915 the P&O liner, SS Persia left London on a voyage to India carrying more than 500 men, women and children, in the ship's hold were sacks of Christmas cards and presents, and locked away in the bullion-room were millions of pounds worth of gold, silver and jewels belonging to the wealthy, Raja Maharaja Jagatjij Singh.

Among the passengers were John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and his secretary, Eleanor Thornton.

It seemed only a handful of close friends knew of the couple's close, but highly discreet, relationship that had lasted for ten years.

Lord Montagu was one of the country's leading pioneers of the automobile and from 1902 he edited a magazine called The Car where Eleanor worked as his secretary.

A member of the couple's inner circle was the sculptor, Charles S Sykes, who was commissioned by the Baron to create a special mascot for his Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce.

Eleanor was the inspiration for the small statue entitled, The Whisper which depicted a young girl in flowing robes with a forefinger to her lips, suggesting that the figure knew of a hidden secret.

Following this commission Rolls-Royce asked Sykes if he would craft a mascot to adorn the company's cars and in February, 1911 he presented the now famous, Spirit of Ecstacy, which bore a striking resemblance to The Whisper. This was no coincidence as Eleanor had posed for both statues.

The liner, Persia, which had been built in 1900, regularly plied the route between London and Bombay and on December 30, as the ship was in the eastern Mediterranean the first class passengers, and officers, sat down to enjoy lunch together.

A young officer was later to write: "As we had gone down to lunch and I had just finished two anchovies on toast there was a dull bang, a clatter of falling glass and a shudder through the ship.

"Everyone got up to fetch their life belts without any panic at all.'' Unbeknown to the ship the captain of an enemy German U-boat, Lieutenant Commander Max Valentiner had spied the liner in his periscope and had attacked using torpedoes.

In less than ten minutes the P&O ship had sunk taking with her 343 passengers to their deaths.

According to one report Lord Montagu and Eleanor held hands as the liner slipped beneath the waves. The pressure pushed John back to the surface but his lover was lost.

At first Lord Montagu was thought to have died as well but he survived to return home and read his obituaries in the newspapers of the time.

The sinking of Persia caused international outrage and the attack resulted in the Germans being widely vilified as until this incident, international maritime law said merchant shipping should be given the opportunity for the passengers to disembark before combat could begin.

However the U-boat commander claimed he had not broken any rules of war as Britain was using liners of this design as troopships, which meant he could attack without warning.

The main task of the Receiver of Wreck is to processes incoming reports of wreck, in the interest of both salvor and owner. This involves researching ownership, liaising with finder and owner, and other interested parties such as archaeologists and museums.

The SS Persia exhibition will now be permanently on show at the Maritime Museum.

3:34pm Tuesday 20th May 2008

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