Posted on 05/20/2020 8:13:02 AM PDT by NRx
An underwater salvage company was granted approval this week to cut into the wreckage of the Titanic to try to recover a Marconi telegraph, rekindling a complex debate over access to the ship and maritime law.
The company, R.M.S. Titanic, persuaded a federal judge on Monday to allow it to conduct a salvage operation this summer in the wreckage of the ship, which sank during its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912 after hitting an iceberg. More than 1,500 of the ship’s passengers died, and about 700 survived.
The ruling, by Judge Rebecca Beach Smith of the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Va., made changes to a 2000 court order that prohibited the company from cutting into the ship’s hull to search for diamonds.
The company sought to loosen the restrictions so it could recover the Titanic’s telegraph machine, which it contends could be lost forever because of the degradation of the ship. The radio transmitter could unlock some of the secrets about a missed warning message and distress calls sent from the ship, said the company, which obtained the salvage rights to the wreckage in the 1980s. The site is about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
“The Marconi device has significant historical, educational, scientific and cultural value as the device used to make distress calls while the Titanic was sinking,” Judge Smith wrote in her ruling. The company will be permitted to “minimally to cut into the wreck” so it can reach the telegraph room, Judge Smith wrote.
David Concannon, a lawyer for R.M.S. Titanic, said in an interview on Tuesday that the company would try to avoid cutting into the ship and that the ship’s telegraph room could be reached through a skylight that was already open.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“If there’s anything left of that Marconi set but a pile of rusticles,”
No rust at that depth. I guess you have missed all the artifacts recovered after more than 80 years underwater in almost perfect condition.
Gold watch?
“That’s what I was wondering. If it’s theirs legally, get the Marconi — and the diamonds, too.”
Complicated set of International agreements amid a bankruptcy agreement.
That search was for the Heart of the Ocean...
Rose had it all the time...
The Firm?! Are they gonna sing Radio Active while they do it?
I thought the Titanic wreck site had been declared a world heritage site? If so, isn’t covered under U.N. conventions? I’m sure the jurisdictional issues will be battled in court for years.
The Cape Race station had all the records...
“It’s also a grave.”
But it’s not a war grave and only sunken warships with dead aboard are protected from salvage.
This is why the German ships at Scapa Flow can be salvaged and the Bismarck cannot.
“Gold watch?”
No.
Brewster’s last words, overheard by Bigalow, were: “Southby . . . Thank God for Southby.”
I’m not familiar with that particular model but old comm devices used to use wax cylinders or paper tapes to record communications for later review. Realistically any paper is long since dissolved.
There’s some things they may determine but they’re likely to ruin it by removing it too.
Well, I'm not a sailor and I totally agree with you! The telecommunications technician in me says the Marconi device could never answer any questions regarding the messages sent or not sent in the hours of the ship sinking. This is just a foot in the door to make other desecrations.
“I thought the Titanic wreck site had been declared a world heritage site? “
I don’t believe it is a world heritage site but it is receiving certain protections from UNESCO per international agreements.
Better explanation: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/titanic-telegraph-distress-calls-salvage-judge-ruling/
The money they’d make off salvaging the surviving metals wouldn’t even pay the power bill.
The Titanic — billed as an unsinkable ship — hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912. Over 1,500 people died in the maritime disaster, while 705 individuals survived. A number of the victims and survivors were famous people.Apr 10, 2020
I guess you must have missed all the articles about the Titanic’s hull being draped in what salvagers have termed “rusticles,” which are huge “drippings” of rust that run down the sides of the wreck.
I was once lucky enough to actually touch the Titanic after being being under 2.5 miles of water for over 70 years.
Got a chunk of coal too... :)
Nonsense.There is nothing sacred about a dead body.
Its DEAD Jim.
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