Controversial Titanic artifacts salvage scheme

Grey Havoc

Grey Havoc

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www.telegraph.co.uk

Exclusive: Hidden treasures inside Titanic to be recovered under plans opposed by the Government

Hidden treasures inside the wreck of RMS Titanic will be recovered for the first time under controversial plans opposed by the British government, the Telegraph can reveal.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Exclusive: How US firm plans to salvage Titanic's 'voice' in controversial expedition

For more than a century the historic treasures hidden inside RMS Titanic have lain undisturbed in freezing darkness.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
 
Angering the British government? What, the same Britain that still has the Elgin marbles?

If someone found a ten thousand year old boat wreck at the bottom of the Black Sea, there'd be little question about whether to recover what bits could be gathered. Somewhere along the line things go from "it belongs in a museum" to "leave it alone." I'd love to see an objective explanation of when and why.
 
Rather like the Pacific war graves dug up by (Supposedly) Chinese scrap dealers, the chances of policing and monitoring these wrecks is practically impossible.

www.telegraph.co.uk

'The ships are war graves': Relatives hit out at metal merchants who 'dumped sailors remains' in Indonesia

The grand-daughter of a British seaman killed in the sinking of HMS Repulse in December 1941 has expressed her horror at reports that the remains of dozens of Royal Navy sailors may have been dumped in an unmarked mass grave in Indonesia.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

www.dailymail.co.uk

British war graves desecrated by Chinese pirates

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson demanded an investigation last night: ‘The UK Government absolutely condemns the unauthorised disturbance of any wreck containing human remains' he said.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
Orionblamblam said:
Angering the British government? What, the same Britain that still has the Elgin marbles?

If someone found a ten thousand year old boat wreck at the bottom of the Black Sea, there'd be little question about whether to recover what bits could be gathered. Somewhere along the line things go from "it belongs in a museum" to "leave it alone." I'd love to see an objective explanation of when and why.
Click to expand...


(couldn't resist !)
 
The crew of that 10k year old ship are hardly likely to have direct relatives, unlike those of the ships being scrapped in the pacific. How about we scrap the Arizona?

I absolutely agree about the marbles though and believe it dishonest to call them the elgin anything, we should send them home.
 
L’hôpital qui se fout de la charité…
Moreover for historical conservation, they better retrieve now the artifacts that remains in Ok shape. I remember reading the wreck is slowly disintegrating and that in maybe 10/15 years there will be little trace of it left.
 
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Additionally: The Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a rock in 2014 and capsized. 32 died. And then... the ship was scraped off the ocean floor and scrapped, broken apart and turned into, I dunno, Chinese razor blades or something. So, is it the death toll that makes Titanic a Sacred Site and the Costa Concordia a pile of junk? Is it the age? The depth?
 
Those military wrecks have a lot of meaning in various different nations, every bit as much as the Arizona does in the USA, your reaction to my point proves that. The ancient wrecks are well outside any current relationship with anxious close relatives just like the ancient human remains that archeologists have been digging up for decades. My reason for using the Arizona was a bit soft and less well made than I intended. Sorry for that.
 
Orionblamblam said:
So, is it the death toll that makes Titanic a Sacred Site and the Costa Concordia a pile of junk? Is it the age? The depth?
Click to expand...
The corpses of the Costa Concordia's victims were all recovered and handed over to the families first. *Then*, the empty wreck was scraped.
The corpses recovery is the difference with the Titanic, of course.
 
There are no or few surviving parts of bodies in most old maritime wrecks but that does not mean they are not mass graves of some description.

I think what the issue is here is a company using salvage as a money making scheme. Parading the radio in a Las Vegas casino is hardly thoughtful preservation of maritime heritage.
It is not as if bits and pieces of the Titanic and its contents have not survived, items that never made it onto the ship (cutlery, dinner plates etc.) and items salvaged at the time of the rescue. So you might say, well a few more pieces won't hurt, but preservation is going to be tricky and if they don't end up in museums then its just fuelling private relic hunters. Balancing that, I do agree that he structure is starting to deteriorate to a state where collapse is more likely and if we wanted to save parts for posterity now is the time.

Anyhow, given the picture of the Marconi wireless equipment's condition today, it hardly seems reassuring that it could be salvaged without further damage and talk of restoring to be operational seems fanciful given the state of the corrosion. I'm surprised its as intact as it is.
 

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