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I have been doing some reading and watching some vids lately on this very topic. I have been intrigued with the Titanic ever since I was a kid, and have been wrestling with this issue as of late. On one hand, the Titanic is a grave site where many died in one of the worst ship sinkings in history. I have always been against companies taking items from the wreck.

On the other hand, if we do nothing to preserve this bit of history (as experts believe within 20 years, it will turn to a smear on the sea floor do to microbes and bacteria), then an important event in history may be lost forever. I've been starting to lean towards the idea of bringing the bow section back into the light of day to be moved to a giant water tank where it will not disintegrate any further, turning into a permanent museum of the tragedy that people could visit and learn about.

I don't want to be labelled a hypocrite, but I have always been of the belief that history needs to be preserved as much as possible. We will forever been doomed to repeat the past if we can never learn from it, as we did after the Titanic slipped below the waves forever.

Thoughts?

-J.

   

I often wonder why people are so fascinated by the RMS Titanic, but forget about the RMS Lusitania.

I think they are both grave sites. Leave them alone. Take pictures, but nothing else.

   

Or indeed, Empress Of Ireland.

   

Leave it, raising the Titanic's bow would be bad as raising the USS Arizona.

   

That is another ship and story I've been interested in. Too many people have forgotten because it's wedged between the Titanic disaster, and WWI.

-J.

   

Raise The Titanic
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I don't ever recall learning about it in school either. Sure we learned about Titanic but Empress Of Ireland? More passengers died aboard the Empress and in the middle of the St. Lawrence river within sight of land. It's interesting that Lord Mersey investigated all three ship disasters.

   

Or the Prince of Wales and Repulse. Oh wait, they can't be raised because thanks to the scavenging metal thieves and lack of spine by the Malaysian Gov't there isn't enough metal left to stick to a magnet.

Every ship on the ocean floor is a grave, war or otherwise and should be left in peace. This fascination with raising sunken ships is, while historically interesting, actually quite macabre.

   

I think there are many reasons why the Titanic disaster is so fascinating, among them would be the status of many who were lost - the who's who of the times; the fact that she was branded unsinkable; she was the first liner to have a working telegraph; the continuing controversy over whether the Californian could have come to her aid; the controversy over why the lifeboats were less than capacity, and that they took so long to go back and look for survivors.

   

Agreed in full. She's been poked and prodded enough for history. She and all those lost will not be forgotten.

   

Agreed, Freakin'. Their discovery and subsequent perusal by what seems like all and sundry should be enough to satisfy any historical necessities. Let the dead rest in peace.

   

The other side of the coin is to raise the wrecks to preserve them. I offer you the CS H. L. Hunley or the HMS Mary Rose. Both war graves that were raised, preserved and respected. They give a fascinating insight to the history at the time. They are now protected from scavengers and other ne'er-do-wells. A few miles off shore from my part of Lake Ontario are Hamilton and Scourge, US warships sunk in a storm in 1813, their only protection is that they are in 300 feet of water, far beyond the limits of recreational divers but still in danger of being molested.

I see no point in raising the bow of the Titanic, if even possible, nor should it be. I appreciate items from the debris field being raised and preserved for studying and not for selling.

   

The Titanic and others mentioned are grave sites, resting places for those lost. Start messing with that you're messing with bad juju.

   

Agreed. Leave them all where they rest.