SCIENCE

SAVE THE TITANIC FOUNDATION ACCEPTS SUBMISSIONS OF BIDS FROM THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS FOR THE SPEARHEADING OF THE RAISING OF THE TITANIC FEASIBILITY RESEARCH OPERATIONS PROGRAMS THROUGH DECEMBER 12, 2005

Save the Titanic Foundation, a 501 (c) non-profit organization of public benefit, spearheads the raising of the Titanic in their first aggressive mission “Save the Titanic Feasibility Research Operations” (STFRO)). Invitations to participate are extended to institutions and their teams of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, SAIC, JPL, Halliburton, KPMG, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

In 1985, the remains of the Titanic were discovered in over 12,000 feet of water off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Since then, a significant amount of scientific research data has provided evidence of the deterioration of the Titanic. Dr. Ballard, president of the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, quotes "We know Titanic has been naturally deteriorating over time, but I'm convinced that the deterioration is being accelerated by manmade impacts as well.”

The foundation has established a relationship with RMS Titanic, Inc, the company that has obtained the rights to conduct salvage operations at the site, and has recovered more than 6,000 artifacts. Several tour companies and movie producers have also visited the site in manned submersible vehicles to be targeted amongst the Titanic communities as the cause of the accelerated deterioration of the ship. The members of the foundation however, communicate that because artifacts were permitted from the ship, the generations should also thrive towards the rescuing of the ship from the inevitable deterioration. Unlike other research teams, or organizations that have explored the Titanic for the obvious reasons of deterioration, the salvaging of artifacts, or for mere entertainment, the Save the Titanic Foundation will conduct a series of research explorations as a cultural experience of the possibilities of rescuing the Titanic from deterioration.

The days of conducting explorations and research of the Titanic for the mere justification of the ship as a gravesite that must deteriorate have passed. There is a new generation of 11 million petition signers for saving the Titanic and a new breed of researchers from the global scientific community inferring that the ship be raised. Their new found confidence for the raising of the ship is credited to the technologically advanced equipment available today and from that of the increasing knowledge of oceanic and space explorations shared by corporations of various industry sectors focused on maritime, engineering, robotics, biotech, space technologies and the advanced oceanic equipment of corporations specializing in oil drilling. The new generation of scientists, explorers, and researchers involve themselves with the possibilities as to what it would entail to bring the ship to surface.

WHY BOTHER TRYING TO SAVE THE TITANIC?

The members of the foundation reason that the Titanic being branded a cemetery is unethical. They communicate, “ 6000 artifacts have already been taken from the grounds of the ship, we are not all a generation of scavengers, pirates and thieves robbing gravesites. We save the artifacts; we must also try to save the ship. Saving the ship is the restoration of the spirit of the American dreams that were vying to reach America’s homeland.”

“Saving the Titanic is about the American dreams that perished with the ship that we’re all living today”

INTRODUCTION

How marine organism activity will lead to the eventual destruction of the Titanic

One of the great icons of the twentieth century was born April 15, 1912 with the sinking of the RMS Titanic. At her launching, this great ship was the largest liner ever built and carried the distinction of being the biggest, the best, and even claimed to be "unsinkable". The sinking was made even more dramatic by the striking of an iceberg on her maiden voyage, with over 1500 lives lost. This single event has become burnt into societies' consciousness as an image of arrogance and ignorance.

Myths and legends continued to surround the RMS Titanic until its discovery in 1985. The ship lies silently on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, over 500-km off of the coast of Newfoundland. The Titanic, torn into three parts and surrounded by a debris field, is scattered on a portion of the continental shelf at a depth of 3.9 kilometers, with a temperature of 1°C and pressures in excess of 6000psi. After 88 years at the bottom of this watery grave, the RMS Titanic shows signs of deterioration. This deterioration is found in the form of growth, coined rusticles that appear both inside and outside of the ship's structure. In 1996 and 1998, scientific expeditions to the site of the RMS Titanic have learned that the rusticles are growing larger and denser, while the ship continues to deteriorate. Microscopic evaluation revealed that the rusticles are complex bioconcretious structures involving many different consortia, or communities of bacteria and fungi, formed through cooperative activities. These integrated structures include water channels, porous sponge-like regions, rib-like structures, cavernous water reservoirs and thread-like columns that appear to bind these structures together along with resinous patches.

The bioconcretious rusticles vary in color, texture, size and form. The variation in color from a vivid yellow through to brown and even purple is due to the highly oxidized ferric iron content. These can be found on the outer surfaces of the Titanic. Rusticles can also appear to have a grey or black hue. These can be found in more reductive environments such as those found in the interior of the ship. The rusticles are dense structures, with a high iron content ranging from 24 to 36% consisting mostly as complex ferric oxides and hydroxides. The support structures of the rusticles appear to be dominated by matrices of heavily mineralized growth in which goethite is dominant. An iron oxide sulfate complex, known as green rust was also found (Fe⁺²_3.6 Fe⁺³_0.9(O^--, OH^-, SO₄^--)₉). Rusticles that have been recovered from the 1996 Expedition to Titanic have been analyzed by electron diffraction x-ray. This technique revealed that iron was the dominant atom within the range of atoms tested. The relationship within the bioconcretious structure is (dominant atom first): Fe > Na > S > Cl > Mg > Si > P > Mn. There is considerable variation in the elemental composition of the rusticles tested, however, this reflects the heterogeneous nature of the structures themselves.

The examination of the rusticle growth on the ship itself was done in both 1996 and 1998. This examination in situ showed, visually, that the rusticles have a concrete looking exterior however, when approached and, when touched or disturbed through mechanical means, proved fragile and commonly shattered into numerous pieces, spewing a red, powder-like material into the surrounding water. This phenomenon was examined closer in a laboratory setting, using recovered rusticles. When growth occurred in the laboratory, the rusticles were fed various selective culture media through implanted hypodermic syringes simulating organic loading in the oceanic environment. Growth occurred very slowly but it was noted that there was a continuous release of material resembling the powder-like material first observed in situ, through the ducts leading from the structural water channels. This material, when dried, resembles red dust, having an iron content, on average, of 20+/-5%. Additionally, there were releases of biocolloidal yellow slimes with an average iron content of 8+/-3%. These releases totaled between 0.02 and 0.03% of the rusticle's biomass per day. If this were to be repeated in situ, tests indicate that it would take between nine and fourteen years for the same amount of iron to be released from the rusticles as equivalent to the amount of iron being held within the rusticles structure. From the 1996 surveys, it was determined that there was approximately 650 tons (dry weight) of rusticles on the outside of the bow section of the wreck. From this, it can be extrapolated that a daily loss of iron, as red dust and yellow biocolloids, of between 0. 13 and 0.20 tons per day could be occurring from the wreck. Further extrapolation reveals that iron in the bow section, assuming 20,000 tons of iron, and that the rusticles were removing the iron at a constant rate, could be totally exported into the environment as red dust and biocolloids in approximately 280 to 420 years.

Key in determining how long the Titanic may remain intact is the rate at which these biologically-driven rusticles will grow and extract iron from the steel plating of the ship. To examine this phenomenon, four IPSCO Test Platforms were placed down at the site of Titanic, in 1998. Each platform has three different types of maritime steel, each represented by five coupons, which have been either twisted, hammered, tempered or burnt, including a control sample. These platforms are still at the wreck site and early reports indicated that the rusticles are growing over the test coupons. When recovered, the rusticle growth and resident amount of iron in the coupons will be used to assess the rate at which iron extraction is occurring, the residence time in the rusticle for the iron and finally, the amount of iron already exported to the oceanic environment In addition to the IPSCO Test Platforms, there is a need to understand the nutritional factors influencing the growth of rusticles. On both the 1996 and 1998 expeditions, there were periods when the "sea snow', a mixture of biocolloids and zooplankton, was so intense that it resembled a blizzard on the prairies. This sea snow originates, in part, from the deep scattering layer located approximately 400-1000 meters below the surface, and partly from the growths over the ocean floor. After such a "snow fall", the rusticles become covered with a gentle coating of white slime that presumably, is able to be consumed by the rusticles through the ducts that perforate the outer structural coating.

The chemistry of this biodeterioration is clearly complex and certainly involves the growth of microbes at the reduction-oxidation front forming within the structures, and upon the electrical charges inherently present within the steel and modified by the rusticle growth. In the laboratory, it has been possible to manipulate the position, form and rate of rusticle growth by the application of electromagnetic forces to the steel. This has now become the subject of a patent application. Clearly the biodeterioration of the RMS Titanic is being driven by rusticles mining the steel for its iron which becomes the major structural support element in the rusticles, in much the same way as calcium provides the skeletal support in many vertebrates. In 1998, comparisons were made with video footage from the 1986, 1996 and 1998 expeditions to determine the rate of biodeterioration over time. The mass of rusticles has increased on the outside of the bow section by at least 30% between 1996 and 1998 and there are ongoing signs of deterioration. For example, the bow section of Titanic's Upper Promenade Deck is deteriorating from the aft, moving forward at a rate of approximately 30cms per year. Another indication that degradation is occurring is at the aft end of the bow section. All of the decking structures located at this point, having folded and collapsed over the aft section during impact, have now disintegrated away to reveal for the first time the boilers in Boiler Room #2. Cracks in the steel hull plating are also beginning to appear, particularly around the Well Deck, that suggests further deterioration is progressing. Inside the bow section, copious rusticles are growing throughout. These may also be leading to the gradual deterioration of the ship. It is only through a more intensive investigation that the true rate of this biologically driven deterioration can be predicted.

There appears, at this time, to be evidence not of a catastrophic structural failure about to occur in the near future, but rather of a gradual collapse that would follow a somewhat predictable pattern. In simple form, this pattern would include (in probable chronological order) the loss of all structures above the hull, collapse and disintegration of internal decks and walls, exposure of all of the heavy mechanical equipment in the bowels of the ship (e.g., boilers, turbines), fracturing and collapse of the hull plates, exposure of the double bottom hull and the final disappearance of the remaining resident structures. This chain of events probably would take many hundreds of years, long after the RMS Titanic had ceased to be a recognizable structure.

For science, the RMS Titanic now provides an opportunity to learn from the deep oceanic degradation of steel structures. At this site, the deterioration of structures still has many stories to tell. The debate between fact and fiction reigns on. Claims range from the steels deteriorating to become as thin as sheets of newspaper, having the same strength as the chocolate in a candy bar, to the steel strength being slowly yielded to the iron-devouring rusticles. Ongoing science at the site and the proper comparison of the myriad of images from 1986, particularly those between 1998 and 2000, can aid in addressing the validity of these claims.

In addition to the desire by many to make the RMS Titanic a protected memorial site, there remains a continuing need for dedicated science and archeology to learn as well as to remember. From a microbiological standpoint, research and development could further address the issues surrounding the rusticles as very unusual life forms. The ongoing controversy over the RMS Titanic carries with it the possibility of profound consequences. To learn from this tragic disaster, still within the halls of memory, is an essential legacy of the RMS Titanic. As one of a large number of sadly sunken ships, the RMS Titanic stands apart from all of the others through representing the ending of one complete chapter in the history of humankind. RMS Titanic has earned the right to become a site to be remembered, revered and respected and from which knowledge should grow rather than simply become yet another site to be plundered.

1 University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
2 Droycon Bioconcepts Inc., Regina, Saskatchewan, Can

Microbiological Scientific Activity on the RMS Titanic

1996 to 1998

RMS Titanic Inc., in conjunction with Discovery Channel, organized an expedition in 1996 that would begin to address the science associated with the ship, from the disaster itself, onwards as she sails into archeological history. The questions asked of me were related to the observed deterioration of the ship's structures and the possibility that these events were orchestrated by microbes. The following events were undertaken in the above stated time period in an attempt to

begin to understand the nature of these events:

1996

Experiment 1: Place two BART^TM tests on the bridge deck to determine whether heterotrophic aerobic and iron-related bacteria were active on the ship. The tests were brought back in 3 and 12 days respectively. Both BART^TM tests showed that there was bacterial activity belonging to each of these two bacterial groups.
Experiment 2: Place two unexposed but developed color slide film coupons on the bridge deck to determine whether there were microbes present that could degrade the gelatin proteins in the film. The one experiment, brought back after 3 days, indicated that the microbial degradation of the protein had already started. When the second experiment was recovered, the proteins were deeply etched, forming a variety of patterns that appeared to be more art than science.
Experiment 3: Recover rusticles from the ship's abundant growth, hanging down from the ship and also from the metal pieces being recovered for metallurgical studies. These rusticles were returned to the Regina laboratories for analysis. They were found to be a complex mixture of various microbial species living in a variety of structures within the rusticles. Elements of their form and function were observed and the basic nature of these growths was as living iron-rich concretions.
Experiment 4: Survey, in a scientific manner, the port and starboard sides of the bow section concentrating on the promenade deck that appeared to be suffering from a most severe rusticle infestation. This video imagery has become a guide to assess the rate of deterioration of the promenade deck. On the basis of this survey, the density and size of rusticle growths were projected on the outside of the bow. It was projected to be 650 tons dry weight.

1998

Experiment 5: It was evident from the previous work done in 1996 and ongoing laboratory studies, that the steel structures on the ship are biodeteriorating as a result of the rusticles removing iron from the steel. Four IPSCO Steel Platforms were placed on the ship:

(1) Just forward of the right engine in the stem of ship on a rusticle flow from the double bottomed hull;
(2) On the port boat deck just aft of the bridge by the first port lifeboat position;
(3) Just to the port side of the stem at the very front of the bow close to a debris field of decayed rusticles;
(4) Immediately below the port side well deck on the ocean floor.

Each platform had 15 metal coupons separated into three groups (mild steel, AH36 and EH36, modem maritime steel). Within each group of five coupons, one was a control while the others were either hammered, twisted, burnt or tempered. The coupons were arrayed in a manner that would encourage rusticles to grow over the steel. After seven days, it was reported that growth was occurring, however there has been no imagery received that would indicate the state of these platform since the 1998 expeditions.
Experiment 6: A fundamental question is whether the environment at the site is too extreme for surface microorganisms to survive if exposed to those conditions. Five American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) strains of bacteria were sent down to the site under confined conditions in which they did become exposed to, but could not contaminate, the local conditions of pressure, temperature and salinity. The period of exposure at the site was approximately eighteen hours. All five species were recovered with an one order of magnitude loss in cell numbers. Surface microbes that had sunk with the ship, or arrived at the site later, could therefore, possibly adapt and form a part of the microbial activity.
Experiment 7: An extension of the BART^TM tests conducted in 1996, was conducted in 1998. Miniature laboratories, called BART^TM platforms, were placed at the same sites as three of the four IPSCO Test Platforms. All three of the BART^TM platforms were recovered during the expedition and all showed evidence of active bacterial growth.
Experiment 8: A series of film etch coupons were taken to the site and held there for various times. Complex etching patterns were again observed and these, together with the images obtained in 1996, became a part of the "Dominion of Nature" in which photomicrographic images have been blown up on Agfatran and back-lit.
Experiment 9: Rusticles were recovered from the "Big Piece" and from the "D Deck Door", brought up during the 1998 Expedition. Analysis of these samples confirmed the presence of complex microbial consortia within an iron-rich concrete-like structure.

Extensions to the Experiments: 1998 to 2000

> Educational: Cooperation with firstly, RMS Titanic Inc., and later with Maryland Science Center, has led to the bringing of some aspects of the science into the public forum. Specifically, in 1999, aspects of this research were introduced into the Titanic Exhibitions in Hamburg, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, through RMS Titanic Inc. Also in 1999, there began an ongoing dialog with Maryland Science Center for the incorporation of some elements of this work into "Titanic Science, Depths of Discovery" that is due to open in November 2000. Within a matter of weeks a local exhibition will open at the Saskatchewan Science Center title "Titanic, the Saskatchewan Connection". The Maryland exhibition, which will tour and is supported by the National Science Foundation, will include many aspects of the scientific studies including some of the following:

> Walk through a rusticle (1 6' x 12' structure) through which visitors can walk and see the different structures that have been seen in these organisms;
> Dominion of Nature: an exhibition of the etchings;
> The Biodeterioration of the Titanic: a set a drawings of the bow of the ship as she was in 1986, 1996 and possibly 2012 and 2112;
> Culturing rusticles: an aquarium in which rusticles are actually being grown;
> Small educational take-home type kits

Nature has taken its toll. Softer woods used throughout the ship are vanishing, and sections of the ship appear to be increasingly squeezed by the pressure at such depths. Bacteria feeding on the ship's steel have formed warm-hued "rusticles" that appear to drip from railings and flow down the ship's sides like Dr. Seuss's gooey oobleck.

The rusticles actually are colonies made up of five species of bacteria that eat the iron out of the ship's steel structures, says Lt. Jeremy Weirich, who works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is the expedition's chief archaeologist. The Ronald H. Brown, a NOAA research ship, will provide the platform from which the robotic archaeologists will operate.

People also are suspected of adding to the decline in recent years. "Extreme" tourist trips to the wreck in small submersible watercraft are said to have left their marks and litter.

Meanwhile, RMS Titanic Inc., which owns salvage rights to the wreck, has been retrieving artifacts for its traveling Titanic exhibition and studying decay as well. The firm says that the Titanic's deterioration is so rapid that artifacts could be lost forever if they aren't recovered soon.

Summary Statement

D. Roy Cullimore. Sunday, September 3, 2000

I have visited the RMS Titanic site in both 1996 and 1998 in the submarine Nautile as a part of the expeditions that were organized in those years. My role, as a microbiologist, was to determine the nature of the growths that were developing on the bow section of the RMS Titanic. These growths, known as rusticles, were found to be living, not a single species of a plant or animal, but rather a complex of microbial communities living within an iron-rich and calcium-deficient porous concrete-like home. They were found to be extracting iron from the steel of the ship and then exporting that iron into the oceanic environment as red dust and yellow colloids (slimes). This was discovered in laboratory based studies using rusticles recovered from the site. There appeared to be considerably more rusticle-type growths in 1998 than in 1996 and an examination of the video images from those two expeditions revealed an increase of approximately 30%. This would indicate that the removal of iron from the ship is an ongoing and accelerating activity. In 1998, the IPSCO Steel Test Platforms were placed on the ship at strategic locations to determine the rates of iron loss that was now being experienced. Unfortunately this activity was not of interest to the current administration of RMS Titanic Inc. and no attempt was made to either provide photographic evidence of the state of the steels coupons on the platforms or offer to retrieve one or more of these platforms. No request was made to the company because there was no interest expressed in continuing the science and attention was totally focused on artifact retrieval. In contrast to this, the Maryland Science Center (MSC) with the support of the National Science Foundation is organizing a science-based exhibition, which complements the artifact-based exhibitions being organized by the company. In support of the MSC attempts have been made to begin to generate a predictive understanding of the speed with which the RMS Titanic bow section is collapsing. Based upon available video imagery up to 1998, there can be projected a rate of biodeterioration that would be partially dependent on the growth rate of the rusticles both inside and outside the steel, and also on the rate at which the iron is being exported into the oceanic environment The table below summarizes the potential losses of iron from the bow section under various conditions.

Estimated Time (calendar year, AD) Frame

For the Losses of Iron from the Steel Bow Section, RMS Titanic

Percentile Steel Loss under various Growth Conditions

Growth Rate	10%	20%	30%	40%
Extreme	2020	2026	2034	2045
High	2032	2048	2056	2068
Moderate	2050	2068	2088	2106
Low	2098	2212	2326	2440

Note: these are estimates based on a considerable level of uncertainty. 10% loss of iron would translate into the loss of all superstructures above the hull, 20% loss would mean that all of the internal steel structures supporting the decking would have collapsed, 30

would mean that the steel plating of the hull itself was collapsing, and 40% would mean that there would be very little structures above the large heavy iron structures such as the boilers. It should also be noted that additional information from subsequent excursions in 1999 and 2000 to the RMS Titanic could allow more accurate predictions to be made.

In the event that the biodeterioration is proceeding at an even faster rate than the "extreme" condition listed in the above table than there must have been some very dramatic changes in the environmental conditions at the site. These changes would have had to stimulate the growth of the rusticles one or two orders of magnitude beyond this estimate. This might occur at the site if there were to be a sudden increase in the available nutrients (e.g., "sea snow', dissolved organic matter and/or slime from the ocean floor) to accelerate the growth or there were dramatic changes in the environmental conditions at-site. For example, sudden rises in temperature, shift in the pH, or changes in the reduction-oxidation potential.

RMS Titanic provides a unique site for the pursuance of deep-oceanic science, as well as archeology. There are many facets of the science that can be explored, to learn not only more from that tragedy, but also perhaps prevent parallel tragedies in the future.

KEY QUESTIONS TO BE ADRESSED BY PARTICIPANTS

KEY QUESTIONS AS TO THE RAISING OF THE SHIP TO BE ADDRESSED

ROLL ORGANIZATION OR SCIENTIFIC TEAM WILL PLAY IN ANSWERING KEY QUESTIONS

POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL USES OF DATA BEING COMPILED

WHAT MUST BE DONE TO CONFIRM THESE POTENTIALS?

CURRENT ASSETS AND THEIR USE

RECOMMENDATIONS OF PLANNED FUTURE MISSIONS

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT/TECHNOLOGIES

PROPOSED BUDGETS

RECOMMENDED SCIENTIFIC TEAMS TO BE DEPLOYED

“When we try to save the Titanic, we honor and respect the spirit of the American dreams that you and I are living today, in doing so we preserve their dreams beyond the exhibitions of the artifacts.”

THE PROPOSED TITANIC TREATY THAT HAS YET TO BE RATIFIED!

The recommendations and research of the “Save the Titanic Feasibility Research Operations (STFRO)) Programs” will be positioned for implementation of the raising of the Titanic when approved by the world’s governments:

“We will not be recorded in history as a generation that pirated the artifacts from the massive Titanic graveyard, but neglected to even try to save the ship from deterioration”

Negotiations for an international agreement for the protection of the RMS Titanic were undertaken in the awareness that, since its discovery, the wreck has been the object of a number of explorations and that over 5000 artifacts have been recovered. Delegations recognized RMS Titanic as a memorial to those who perished and its unique historic significance, symbolic value and international interest. They were concerned that further unregulated dives would risk disturbing human remains, and the integrity of the wreck and its remaining artifacts. An international agreement was deemed necessary to protect the RMS Titanic.

These sessions were conducted in a cordial and constructive atmosphere that reflected the mutual respect and understanding of the Delegation members and made it possible to finalize the text of the Agreement Concerning the Shipwrecked Vessel RMS Titanic, which is annexed to this Final Minute as Attachment B.

The Delegations concluded the negotiations on January 5, 2000, and expressed their mutual hope that the Agreement would achieve their shared objectives to protect RMS Titanic and ensure that further exploration would be undertaken in accordance with the international rules that form an integral part of the Agreement. The delegations joined in endorsing those rules which establish in situ preservation as the preferred policy for the preservation of RMS Titanic and its associated artifacts.

The Delegations stated their intention to initiate national procedures with a view to allowing for signature of the Agreement on behalf of their Governments at the earliest opportunity. In the same spirit a joint demarche would be undertaken to encourage other governments to take the steps necessary to become parties to the Agreement.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as Depositary, will expeditiously prepare. In collaboration with the other Delegations, an authentic text of the Agreement in a. single original in the English and French languages, which will be open for signature by all States at London.

The law of salvage throughout the world is of substantial historical origin, going back to pre-Christian times. The definition of salvage is basically a simple one, namely: a marine peril, a service voluntarily rendered when not required as an existing duty or from a special contract and success in whole or in part by the service rendered which contributed to such success. The basic elements that the courts would consider in evaluating whether or not the service rendered was salvage were set forth in the earlier Supreme Court decision in The BLACKWALL.2 Courts in the United States have considered these elements and have rearranged them on various occasions in various order, depending upon the magnitude of the case as well as the substantial advances in technology.

The facts considered by courts in salvage law analysis in descending order of importance are the following:

1. Degree of danger from which the property was rescued;

2. Value of the property saved;

3. Risk incurred in saving the property from the impending peril;

4. Promptitude and skill displayed by the salvors;

5. Value of the property employed by the salvors and the danger to which it is was

exposed; and

6. Labor expended in rendering the salvage service.3

More recent decisions have added another element, namely, the care that the salvors have taken to preserve the wreck from an archeological viewpoint.

4The TITANIC case is not one of the usual salvage activities which Hollywood has managed to twist in such a fashion as to depict them as a parcel of free booters seeking to overwhelm the poor benighted vessel owner and others. Although there may well be people in the industry that still feel that way about salvors, that is not the issue which we will consider in the TITANIC venture.

5 The author had occasion to substantially review the issue of deep sea salvage in the above mentioned article which was written before the major court decisions in the TITANIC case have come to their conclusion in 1999. However, that article does discuss the historical background of salvage as well as other issues, which are the subject of this paper. The most recent notorious deep sea salvage operation was that in connection with the recovery of artifacts, including a large amount of gold from the S/S CENTRAL AMERICAN, which sunk off the coast of South Carolina in 1857 with a loss of over 420 souls.

6 That case was a bitterly fought salvage operation. Litigation was brought by entrepreneurs who formed a limited partnership in Columbus, Ohio and utilized the then existing best technology to find this wreck in the South Atlantic some 8,500 feet below the surface. The first decision in the case, known as CADG I was interesting, in that the District Court found that the law of "finds" applied, which would be the true concept of "finders keepers" and not the law of salvage 172564.1 -3- in which the salvor retains a lien for his claim against the property, but does not acquire title. The Court of Appeals in its first decision was complimentary of the activities of all concerned and supported favoring the law of salvage over the law of "finds" remanding the case to the lower Court directing it to apply the law of salvage and determine the percentage of gold each underwriter claimed title to which they may be entitled.7 Courts, at times, do have the apt ability to turn a phrase, as might be imagined from this comment from the Circuit Court opinion:

"When Erasmus mused that ‘a common shipwreck is a source of consolation to all’, Adagia, IV.iii.9 (1508), he quite likely did not foresee inconsonant free-for-alls among self-styled salvors," ? [including] Ohio, British and American insurance underwriters, [which included] an heir to the Miller Brewing fortune, a Texas oil millionaire [who in the past led searches for Noah’s Ark, the Loch Ness monster and the TITANIC], an Ivy League university, and an order of Catholic monks [for a price of up to $1 billion in gold]."8 Subsequently, the Court was called upon again to consider the distribution of the spoils (as it were) of the gold from the COLUMBUS AMERICA brought up from the deep. As of the time the salvors were making their claim, they had expended in excess of $29.2 million with a projected salved bullion value of only $21 million, which of course did not make the limited partners in the investment group of the salvor extremely happy.9 The Fourth Circuit in the later decision (CADG II) was by that time getting slightly annoyed at the continuing saga. One of the more erudite judges found solace in the quotation from Virgil which loosely translated, stated "to what cannot you compel the hearts of men; oh cursed lust for gold".10 However, the further commentary of the Court is something that may be considered in the TITANIC venture because this was not a quest for gold but a search for preservation of a historical wreck. The comments of the Court in CADG II could easily be said of the TITANIC, namely "what (the salvors) have accomplished is, by any measure, extraordinary. We can say without hesitation that their story is a paradigm of American initiative, ingenuity and determination."11 The salvors were awarded 92.6% of the salved bullion with the claimant underwriters given the balance. There was no further opinion from the Court of Appeals. There is still some suggestion that the salvors are concerned about how they would be in a position to obtain the greatest value from the bullion from the COLUMBUS AMERICA vessel without impacting the value of it by placing it all on the market at the same time. A reader of history would be well advised to review these decisions for a fascinating exposition of how the ingenuity of man was able to wrest from the deep ocean the spoil of a wreck sunk in extreme depths (but not at the depths of the TITANIC) over 120 years before the commencement of the salvage operations.12

HISTORY OF THE TITANIC DISASTER

As one recent author indicated in a rather succinct précis of the events "at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912 the liner TITANIC struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, holing six compartments forward to an extent beyond the capability of the bilge pumps to overcome. The inevitable progressive flooding sank the ship; it disappeared, bow first beneath the surface at about 2:20 a.m. on the 15th."13 Professor Woodward of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan, prepared a startling chronology of the events which he had obtained from various sources as well as fleshing it out with his own surmises. The reader would be surprised to note the short time frame for this catastrophe to take place:

1. Chronology

11:40 p.m. - The collision; Six compartments are holed;Two forward-most boiler rooms are among them and begin toflood immediately. Bilge pumps are started.

11:40 p.m., et seq. - Bilge pumps continue to run (further engineeringdiscussion omitted).

1:30 a.m. (approximately) - Wireless signals grow weak, apparently fromfailing power, but lights still burn.

2:05 a.m. - Last life boat lowered. Lights still on. 2:10 a.m. (approximately) - Trim by bow is sufficient to threaten operation of remaining boilers. About this time 35 engineers appear on deck, apparently having done all possible below. None survives. Lights still on.

2:18 a.m. - Trim has become severe, with stern lifted out of water. Ship breaks in two near the bulkhead separating the last boiler room from the reciprocating propulsion engine room. . . Lights go out.

2:20 a.m. - Broken off stern plunges beneath the surface, following the bow section that has disappeared a minute or two earlier.14The wreck of the TITANIC was first discovered by Dr. Robert Ballard in 1985 and further examined in 1986 by him. Dr. Ballard is well known for his participation in recent Discovery Channel expeditions, which have resulted in the location of some ancient Phoenician wrecks at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of over 2,000 feet. These wrecks are to be considered in the context of preservation rather than salvage. Dr. Ballard is associated with the Woods Hole Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and was joined in the expedition to the TITANIC site by a French group who provided the submersible used for the expedition.

Until the photography of the TITANIC wreck by Dr. Ballard and others, the general theory was that the vessel had a gash ripped open for some 300 feet after her encounter with the large iceberg. The British Board of Inquiry first put the conclusion that this is why the vessel sunk forth in 1912. 16 However, some of the survivors felt that the ship had broken in two at the surface and the research of the authorities today supports that view. The TITANIC is now in two large pieces on the ocean bottom, almost a mile apart with much of her midship section missing and a substantial debris field between the two hull sections.17 Professor Woodward has opined, from the crew and passenger narratives, that the size of the ice mass had a displacement of 180,000 to 300,000 tons. The initial impact did not create much noise, other than scraping or bumping as the iceberg slid by the stern in its brush with the ship.18 Professor Woodward opines that "the damage to the ship during her encounter with the iceberg, consisted of popped rivets, cracks in the shell plating and torn seams below the water line, while there was a large hole punched inside of the ship above the water line in the vicinity of G Deck." Professor Woodward further concluded that, "the gash is non-existent and should be considered as folklore."19 It was his opinion that the slow rate of flooding, which would have been much greater had there in fact been this large hole (which he considered "folklore") made for a slow rate of flooding, which was governed by the inflow of water from tiny cleavage fractures in the plates as well as riveted seams that were pried open.20 The impact occurred with the vessel proceeding at full speed of almost 20-21 knots; the water temperature was 28-30? Fahrenheit, which was a substantial factor in the overall sinking. Professor Woodward opined that the wrought iron rivets were a source of failure based upon analysis of rivets brought up by the expedition.21 In his most recent article, Professor Woodward opines that the TITANIC was neither an unsafe nor poorly designed vessel.22 He also referred to a fascinating paper presented at the IBA 27 th Annual Conference in Vancouver, 1998 by Joseph A. Kilbourn of Bigham Englar Jones & Houston.23 The law firm of Bigham Englar represented the cargo insurers in connection with the TITANIC litigation that commenced in New York in 1912. Lord Mersey, Chief Judge of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Court in the United Kingdom, presided at the hearings of the sinking conducted by the British Board of Trade. Ironically, he was the uncle of one of the founders of Bigham Englar and the former General Counsel to the White Star Line, owner of the TITANIC, which apparently did not cause any great concern in the United Kingdom at that time.24 The TITANIC had three screws and an extreme length of 852.5 feet with a beam of 92.5 feet. Engines approximately 55,000 horsepower drove it. The vertical bulkheads were not topped with a horizontal watertight bulkhead running the length of the vessel.

This omission "was mainly responsible for the sinking of the TITANIC."25 Ironically, the vessel filled the requirements of the English Merchant Shipping Act for the number of life boats, which was based upon the gross tonnage of the vessel, not by the number of passengers aboard. The TITANIC carried 16 lifeboats and four collapsible boats which could accommodate 1,178 persons. However, on its maiden voyage, the vessel carried some 2,200 passengers.26

On April 12, 1912, the TITANIC departed from Queenstown (now Cobb), Ireland for her voyage to the United States taking the southern track, which was preferred, ostensibly, to avoid floating icebergs.27 On April 14 th , the vessel received warnings that icebergs were within five miles of the track she was following. Later that day a second message was received reporting ice about 19 miles to the north of the track. The last message was sent by the CALIFORNIAN (which was the vessel in the immediate vicinity of the TITANIC after the sinking) about an hour and a half before the accident occurred indicating that they were stopped and surrounded by ice. The radio operator of the TITANIC seemed to ignore this message on the basis that they were busy working on the radio for personal messages on behalf of the first class passengers.28 The CALIFORNIAN was about five miles from the TITANIC when the collision with the iceberg occurred, but never went to her assistance.

The TITANIC’s top speed was about 22-23 knots. Apparently, it was the policy of the White Star Line to navigate its vessels at full speed day and night in clear weather with very little discretion given to the master to deviate from this policy.29 At the hearings held in London this area of speed was explored.

The following colloquy took place between the Wreck Commissioner and one of the representatives of the owner: "The Commissioner: I want to have it quite clear from you. Is your position this, that in clear weather, whether it be day or whether it be night, there should be no reduction nor need be no reduction in the speed, although the master of the ship knows he is in the ice region? Answer: that is right."30 At the time of the collision, the vessel was proceeding at a speed of about 22 knots. The officer on watch had been advised by the prior watch officer that the ship was within an area where ice had been reported. The tragedy of this incident is that there had been no lifeboat drill ever held on the TITANIC. Hearings were also held in the United States after the sinking under the guidance of Senator William Smith from the State of Michigan, the result of which was a proposal made to place stringent regulations on maritime commerce including the necessity to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers and horizontal as well as vertical bulkheads in the construction of vessels, and many other requirements mirroring the failures found on the TITANIC.31

HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF SALVAGE

/i//TITAN_640_ELLIS_ISLAND_CELEBRATION_12.JPG

TO RECEIVE A GIFT FOR YOUR DONATION PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING LINK BELOW DONATIONS BUTTON:

http://www.savethetitanic.org/page/page/1974223.htm