Let Titanic rust in peace, say British experts

LEADING British archaeologists have joined the US government in opposing plans to cut open the wreck of RMS Titanic for the first time.

In a letter to a US court, British museums condemned a proposed expedition to retrieve the “voice of Titanic” – the ship’s Marconi wireless system.

It came as lawyers for RMS Titanic Inc, the salvage firm behind the plans, called witnesses before a federal judge to say why it should be allowed to cut into the deteriorating wreck to recover artefacts before they disappear forever.

Opponents including the UK and US governments say the Titanic is a mass grave and should be left alone.

During the hearing in Norfolk, Virginia, the salvage firm argued that retrieving historic treasures such as the radio from inside the wreck for the first time would not be “grave robbery” but a way to connect people to the ship’s legacy and honour its passengers.

“It’s one of those iconic artefacts,” David Gallo, co-leader of the planned expedition, told the hearing.

“I don’t want some gaping hole in the Titanic that people can say, ‘Dave Gallo left it there’. Everything is geared at minimising any impact.” The company produced a letter from Addergoole Titanic Society, which every year remembers 11 people from one Irish village lost in the 1912 disaster.

“The company wishes to recover a crucial part of history, which will otherwise deteriorate on the ocean floor,” the society wrote. “It would be a tragedy to prevent them from doing so.”

The US government said the Marconi project was merely a “place holder” for future requests to go inside the wreck. A letter it submitted from the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee, which includes British experts, condemned the “exaggerated” claims that the recovered Marconi would reveal new facts about the sinking, pointing out that Harold Bride, one of the ship’s wireless operators, survived and testified at two inquiries.

“The statement that recovered artefacts would be “valuable for public education and outreach” is exaggerated, not correct and provides no educational justification,” the letter stated.

British experts said the salvage company had “failed to provide an adequate justification for the proposed recovery”. RMS Titanic Inc has already salvaged hundreds of items from the seabed around the vessel since the same Virginia court awarded it exclusive rights to the wreck in 1994.

Most are on display at its lucrative exhibitions around the world. But this would be the first time items had been retrieved from inside the Titanic itself.

The project is opposed by the UK government, which has announced a “historic treaty” with the United States to better protect the wreck from “unwanted scavengers”. Rebecca Beach Smith, a US district judge, has said she understands the importance of the Marconi wireless but asked for more details before making a final decision.