Divers have retrieved undersea artifacts from the RMS Titanic’s sister ship, the HMHS Britannic. They’re the first items brought up since the lesser-known ocean liner sank more than a century ago.
The Culture Ministry in Greece announced Monday that an 11-member deep-sea diving team conducted a weeklong operation in May. The goal was to recover artifacts including the ship’s bell and a port-side light.
The White Star Line’s Britannic launched in 1914. The vessel was designed as a luxury cruise liner. During World War I, it became a hospital ship in the Aegean Sea.
While heading toward the Greek island of Lemnos, Britannic struck an undersea mine. It sank off the island of Kea, about 45 miles southeast of Athens on November 21, 1916.
The vessel was the largest hospital ship at the time. It sank in less than an hour. Sadly, 30 of the more than 1,060 people on board died when the ship’s still-turning propellers struck the lifeboats they were in.
Sea currents and low visibility made the salvage work especially tough, according to the Culture Ministry. Plus, Britannic lies nearly 400 feet underwater. That depth makes the wreckage difficult to access. Only specially trained divers are able to participate. The dive team used closed-circuit rebreather equipment in the recovery operation. British historian Simon Mills organized the salvage, the ministry says.
Shipwreck recovery is difficult and often dangerous work. Yet it has value. Artifacts from such wrecks can help people remember and learn from the past. They remind us that “all are from the dust, and to dust all return.” (Ecclesiastes 3:20) Yet Jesus also raises us from the depths of our sin to new life in Him. (Romans 6:4)
Britannic items brought to the surface reflect both the ship’s practical role and its luxury design. They include the lookout bell, a navigation lamp, silver-plated first-class trays, ceramic tiles from a Turkish bath, a pair of passenger binoculars, and a porcelain sink.
Conservationists are examining the artifacts in Athens. They will go to the permanent collection of a new Museum of Underwater Antiquities under construction at the port of Piraeus. The museum will feature a World War I section, with the items from Britannic as a centerpiece.
