Marconi wireless to be rescued from shipwreck after US court ruling

HIDDEN treasures will be taken from inside the wreck of RMS Titanic for the first time after the US government and leading UK archaeologists were defeated in a landmark court case.

In an order released yesterday, a US judge granted permission for a salvage firm to cut into the vessel and retrieve a Marconi wireless set known as the “voice of Titanic”.

The controversial project had been fiercely opposed by the UK and US governments, as well as leading archaeologists, who argued the wreck was a mass grave and should be left in peace.

However, RMS Titanic Inc (RMST), the US salvage firm behind the plans, said the Titanic is deteriorating so quickly that precious items – including the Marconi wireless – must now be “rescued” before they are lost for ever.

And in the most significant court ruling since the liner was rediscovered in 1985, US district judge Rebecca Beach Smith agreed that the Marconi was historically and culturally important, and should be brought to the surface.

Granting permission for RMST “minimally to cut into the wreck”, the judge said the recovered wireless would “contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking”.

Her ruling modifies a previous judge’s order in 2000 that forbids cutting into the shipwreck.

RMST has brought up thousands of items from the seabed around the wreck over the past 20 years.

Most are displayed at major RMST attractions around the world, including at a Las Vegas casino. The Marconi, however, would be the first treasure ever taken from inside the wreck itself. (© Daily Telegraph, London)