A watery graveyard

ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1985, a new episode in the story of Titanic unfolded. Lying on the ocean floor, 963 miles north-east of New York and two-and-a-half miles below the surface, the ship's final resting place was discovered more than 70 years after it slipped below the waves.

The scientific and historical significance of the find was immediately obvious to all.

But as fascination with the ill-fated liner has grown so has the unease with which many view the wreck's future.

Hi-tech publicity-seeking expeditions to the ocean's depths have already brought up 6,000 artefacts over the past 16 years.

Some scientists claim Titanic is deteriorating at such an alarming rate that more should be retrieved before they are lost forever.

Others see the whole process as nothing more than grave-robbing.

Media stunts such as last year's marriage at the wreck site have done little to placate those concerned at Titanic's treatment.

One of those is British Titanic Society spokesman Brian Ticehurst, who wants to see the wreck treated with the respect it deserves.

"There have been pairs of shoes photographed on the ocean floor. The rest of the body is gone, but the shoes are still there and in the same place where they held the body.

"In my mind that is a graveyard.

"There's just no need to bring up those artefacts because you can go to any antique shop or car boot sale and get items from the same period.

"I saw Gillette razor blades at Bursledon market only the other day that were from 90 years ago," said Brian, who lives in Southampton.

But the dream of raising Titanic - or at least as much of its split wreck as is possible - persists to this day.

It was a hope that was first in the air just five days after the liner sunk without trace.

Vincent Astor - son of millionaire passenger J.J. Astor - wanted to find the wreck and blow up its hull in order to retrieve his father's body, the discovery of which the next day brought a halt to the plans.

Later the Astor, Guggenheim and Widener families contacted the Merritt and Chapman Wrecking Company about the possibility of a salvage operation.

But after a handful of initial schemes, thoughts of finding the wreck were forgotten until after the Second World War.

Even then it was not until 1980 that the first serious scientific attempt was launched by Texas oil tycoon Jack Grimm, who had previously financed expeditions to find the Loch Ness monster, Noah's Ark and Bigfoot.

Following three unsuccessful searches, it was left to a joint French and American project to find the wreck in 1985.

The discovery team, headed by Jean-Louis Michel and American explorer Dr Robert Ballard, decided not to salvage artefacts.

The following year Dr Ballard returned to the site and placed a plaque on the wreck, urging that it be left as a memorial.

Later, in his book The Discovery of the Titanic, Dr Ballard would write: "The bottom of the ocean is a quiet place, a peaceful place, fitting for a memorial to all the things that sank when the Titanic went down.

"The wreck we found and photographed can stand as a monument to a mistake, to arrogance, to a lost age and to a kind of innocence we can't recover - and to the people, both guilty perpetrators and innocent victims who figured in the drama."

Dr Ballard may today wonder whether it might have been better had the wreck never been found at all.

In 1987, an expedition that retrieved hundreds of objects from the ocean floor with little scientific research caused a public outcry around the world, with its backers condemned as no better than fortune hunters.

In 1994, RMS Titanic Inc was appointed salvor-in-possession and sole custodian of any artefacts recovered.

The company has since launched an appeal against a legal ruling that prevents it from selling off Titanic artefacts on a piecemeal basis in the hope of cashing in on collectors' interest.

TV companies have also cashed in on the wreck's discovery and the idea that treasure may be found at the bottom of the ocean has been the driving force of many.

Talk has also been sparked that the discovery of fragile perfume vials will lead to the development of a Titanic perfume.

The salvage company has, of course, launched serious attempts to conserve the wreck's atefacts for posterity and research and to study the wreck site in detail.

Scientists now claim time is running out to capitalise on the historical and scientific insights the wreck could offer.

They say iron-eating "rusticles" have already consumed as much as 20 per cent of the bow and the ship will eventually collapse on the ocean floor.

Fears that the hunt for more riches risks disturbing the final resting place of hundreds of victims have also been refuted by those who have studied the wreck.

Some claim few people actually went down with the ship itself - perhaps even as few as 30, mostly engineers working below decks.

Most died of hypothermia in the sea itself and those bodies that were not found were probably swept far away from the wreck site.

But that is little comfort to survivor Millvina Dean, who is adamant Titanic should be allowed to rest undisturbed but resigned to the fact that her wish will go unheeded.

Millvina said: "I understand that people are looking on it as part of history - and if they do not get the artefacts now they never will be able to - but I definitely think it should be left alone.

"My father might still be in there, his body. It seems rather awful people going in search of those things.

"But they will continue to do so as they have done already. There's nothing I can do about it."

- Originally published April 2002.