In over a century, for the first time, marine explorers have recovered relics from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic, which sank in the Aegean Sea during WWI.
The Britannic was initially built as a luxury liner in 1914 and was converted into a hospital ship during wartime.
But its service was cut short when it sank on November 21, 1916, after striking a mine near the island of Kea, off the coast of Athens, in under 60 minutes.
The items that were recovered included a ship’s bell, navigation light, and luxury fittings in a week-long search operation.
The Britannic incident claimed 30 of the more than 1,060 people onboard died because of the lifeboats that were struck by the ship’s propellers.
The recovery operation team consists of 11 members and used a CCE (close circuit equipment) organized by the British historian Simon Mills, who is the founder of the Britannic Foundation.
The team experienced tough conditions on the wreck, particularly currents and low visibility, according to the details in the Greece Cultural Ministry statement.
Among the items that were brought to the surface were the lookout bell, the silver-plated first-class dinner trays, the navigation lamp, ceramic tiles from a Turkish bath, a pair of passenger binoculars, and a porcelain sink from the second-class cabins.
The artefacts recovered from the wreck of the Britannic are now undergoing a conservation process in Athens and will be made part of the permanent collection of a new Museum of Underwater Antiquities that is under construction, located at the port of Piraeus.