Government moves to block removal of telegraph from Titanic

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Legal Issues
Government moves to block removal of telegraph from Titanic

By Rachel Weiner
June 9, 2020 at 2:01 p.m. EDT

The U.S. government has moved to block any effort to take relics from the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, casting in doubt a planned summer expedition to salvage the sunken ocean liner’s telegraph machine.

The company that controls the underwater ruins, R.M.S. Titanic Inc., won approval from a judge last month to attempt to remove the Marconi telegraph that was used to radio for help when the ocean liner sank in 1912. But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is hoping to intervene in the case and forestall the mission.

The company, RMST, won control over the wreckage two decades ago, by bringing artifacts from the site of the Titanic to a federal court in Norfolk. For many years, the United States has operated in the case as a “friend of the court” — able to make arguments but with no standing to appeal a ruling. When RMST presented its plan to recover the Marconi, the government argued that the wreck should be left undisturbed as a gravesite for the 1,500 who drowned there.


In this April 10, 1912, photo, the Titanic leaves Southampton, Britain, on its maiden voyage. (AP)

Judge Rebecca Beach Smith sided with the company, writing that “poignant” photographs of the wreck’s ongoing deterioration “combined with the historical and cultural importance of the Marconi artifacts” convinced her a salvage attempt was necessary.

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Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner tries to cover Alexandria's federal court from a small windowless room with no cellphone access. She sometimes ventures outside to write about crime in Alexandria and Arlington. Follow https://twitter.com/rachelweinerwp

[hunter]

1. There are several working replicas of the radio and room.

Take photos and leave it be.