Researchers are about to rescue the radio from the sunken wreck of the Titanic

[thomdunn]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/05/22/researchers-are-about-to-rescu.html

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[MonkeyT12]

So where did a Virgina court get the authority to override an agreement about wreckage in international waters?

[cannibalpeas]

I don’t understand this. What’s the reasoning beyond “it’s neat”? It’s not a recording device and can’t add any information to the cause or timeline of the disaster, right? Is there anything to be gained beyond some museum centerpiecing it in a special exhibition?

[NashRambler]

@cannibalpeas

Is there anything to be gained beyond some museum centerpiecing it in a special exhibition?

Logic says “yes”, but the grant application language says “no”.

[SoylentPlaid]

It depends on your perspective on the phrase “historical preservation”. The sinking of the Titanic was an event of historical significance, and so you could go a couple of ways around the remains. On the one hand, you could say that it’s best if we left the entire wreck right where it is, as that’s where it sank and so that’s where it should rest. You’re “preserving” the wreck in its current state. On the other hand, it’s a steel ship, and steel rusts, and the bottom of the ocean isn’t exactly the most stable environment, so eventually the entire wreck is going to decay into a pile of undifferentiated rust and some scattered artifacts and we’ll lose the entire thing anyways, so why not take historically important pieces before they’re lost forever? That’s “preserving” the wreck by taking things out and putting them in a safe environment.

Personally, I’m of the latter mind most of the time, although I can understand that people are uncomfortable around anything that looks like “relic hunting” or “looting”. As long as all of the relevant parties agree, I think we should bring important artifacts up and preserve them.

[NashRambler]

I honestly don’t understand this; why salvage a radio that’s been on the ocean floor for more than 100 years? I mean, a Marconi spark-gap transmitter is kind of cool, but it’s going to be badly damaged, if not corroded and decomposed beyond repair. Any restoration is going to be a bad example of the original ax argument.

[cannibalpeas]

@SoylentPlaid

why not take historically important pieces before they’re lost forever?

Sure, why not? I’m of no opinion and am not personally attached to the story of the Titanic in any way. I’m just wondering why the radio, particularly?

[anon75430791]

They are going to sell the tubes to an audiophile for a cool 2 million bucks.

[Pensketch]

@thomdunn

The Marconi device and the artifacts associated with it face “significant threat of permanent loss,”

So does democracy in the US, countless wildlife, bees, etc.

But sure. Grab the radio.

[Thermironic]

There really is no part of life that can remain untouched by hubris.

[dfaris]

Yes, but the audio quality that these old radios produce has so much more warmth.

[Mister44]

How would the radio not just be a mostly corroded mass of junk?

[James_Mason]

Because it would be a corroded mass of junk…FROM THE TITANIC!

[anon47741163]

You left out the ticky box that says its a grave site, and thus should not be rifled through for souvenirs.

[Franko]

yes, this is my full-stop point, too, even though the “it’s going to rust away, we should preserve it in a stable environment for posterity” argument is something i hadn’t considered before, and it’s a pretty compelling argument. but we would frown on such actions for other mass graves, so why should the Titanic be any different?

[Doctor_Faustus]

And by “rescue” you mean “loot”. This really makes me angry. A Virginia judge should really not decide about a wreck in international waters off Canada. Not to mention that it is a mass grave and a heritage site of meaning to the entire world.