Salvagers, take care: wrecks demand respect
SIR – It is time for Titanic profiteering to stop (“Titanic wreck salvage plan is condemned as ‘piracy’”, report, January 22).
When I was part of the Channel 4 expedition to find the wreck of HMS Hood, we made a solemn pledge: “Look, but don’t touch.” We adhered to this, under the leadership of wreck-finder extraordinary David Mearns, even when his team discovered the ship’s bell. It took a lot of careful preparation with the HMS Hood Association, the Royal British Legion, and the Ministry of Defence, before David, supported by the late Paul Allen, returned to recover the bell, following years of requests from all sides that he should do so.
In 1912, 1,517 passengers and crew of the Titanic met a tragic end. The salvage firm RMS Titanic Inc should leave in peace the resting place of those who died.
Rob White
Hood and Bismarck expedition, 2001 London N3
SIR – I am surprised that salvage firms are allowed to remove items from the wreck of the Titanic. I assume that the claim was paid as a total loss and, if so, the wreck becomes the property of the insurance company that paid the loss. Therefore the removal of items is theft.
Greig Bannerman
Frant, East Sussex
SIR – Raising the Titanic’s Marconi radio would provide a permanent museum exhibit that would immortalise the heroism of Jack Phillips, the senior wireless officer on her ill-fated voyage.
Although we must respect the resting place, many museum artefacts come from tragic sites. They give us a focal point from which to contemplate the value of those who fell.
Tim Miller
Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of Glasgow