THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110512
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOSEPH P. COSCO, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Another bit of the Titanic found its way to Norfolk this week in the form of a lead crystal dish, one of 785 artifacts recovered on the most recent expedition to the storied shipwreck.
A leader of the salvage operation brought the dish to federal court Wednesday to preserve his group's exclusive claim to the most famous wreck in the North Atlantic.
George Tulloch, chairman of RMS Titanic Inc., reported on the latest expedition to District Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr., who awarded salvage rights to the group two months ago.
``That's great,'' Clarke said, handing the dish back to a court security officer. ``Don't drop it!''
The artifact, which probably was a dish for candy or nuts, features a shell pattern and the logo of the White Star Line, owner of the ill-fated British luxury liner.
The Titanic was making its maiden voyage to New York when it hit an iceberg and sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew members. The wreck, which was discovered in 1985, lies about 400 miles south of Newfoundland.
The dish was one of hundreds of artifacts that have been gently plucked from the wreck, 2 1/2 miles below the surface. The remainder of the artifacts are on their way to a lab in France for preservation.
After the brief court hearing Wednesday, Tulloch regaled court personnel with tales of the 29-day expedition, which ended Aug. 5. The trip, which was RMS Titanic's third salvage operation since the first one in 1987, featured 18 dives by the manned French submersible Nautile.
Tulloch, who went on five of the 18 dives, said there were plenty of surprises in the deep. One was a long jar stuffed with what the Nautile's crew thought were ``balls,'' but were in fact olives.
``The biggest, greenest, most beautiful I've ever seen,'' Tulloch said. ``These things were ready to eat.''
Another find was what appeared to be a bathtub filled with mud and broken glass. ``We started to realize halfway in through the mud that, hey, this isn't a tub, this is a dishwasher,'' Tulloch said. The washer was filled with dessert dishes and silverware - and English half-penny coins that might have been tips for the waiters or busboys.
Among the other artifacts recovered were:
A bulky box camera, brass-fitted tripod and developing trays found in a suitcase.
Three pairs of binoculars, including one pair that is believed to have been the ship's binoculars.
A small Irish cup decorated with shamrocks, with the inscription, ``Three little leaves of Ireland.''
A golf ball.
A bottle of moisturizing cream.
A gold fox-head tie pin found in a travel bag with a Bulgarian newspaper.
Two ship's bollards, each measuring 7 feet by 3 1/2 feet and weighing 2.3 metric tons.
Tulloch said the bollards, heavy posts attached to a pier for holding mooring lines, will play a special role as the public's tactile link to the wreck. They will be the only exhibited items that people can touch.
RMS Titanic won a two-year legal battle against a rival salvage group in June. The New York-based company now has recovered nearly 3,400 artifacts from the wreck's debris field - including 800 pieces that were brought up last year and stored in Norfolk before being shipped to France for preservation.
The first major exhibit is scheduled for October at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, near London. The exhibit is expected to make an appearance in Hampton Roads in about two years, Tulloch said.
A crew from the British Broadcasting Corp. filmed the recent expedition for a documentary. by CNB