First Britannic Ship Artefacts Recovered After Century

Athens, Sep 16 (AP) Divers have successfully recovered artefacts from the Britannic, the Titanic's sister ship, for the first time since it sank over a century ago in the Aegean Sea due to a mine explosion during World War I.

The Greek Culture Ministry announced on Monday that an 11-member deep-sea diving team undertook a weeklong recovery mission this past May. Among the artefacts retrieved were the ship's bell and the port-side navigation light.

Originally launched in 1914 by the White Star Line as a luxury cruise liner, the Britannic was repurposed as a hospital ship during the First World War. It was en route to the island of Lemnos when it hit a mine and sank off the island of Kea, approximately 75 kilometers southeast of Athens, on November 21, 1916.

When it sank, the Britannic, then the largest hospital ship, submerged in under an hour. Tragically, 30 of the over 1,060 people aboard lost their lives when their lifeboats were caught in the ship's still-turning propellers.

Resting at a depth of 120 meters, the wreck is only accessible to technical divers. The dive team utilized closed-circuit rebreather equipment for the recovery operation, which was organized by British historian Simon Mills, the founder of the Britannic Foundation, according to the Culture Ministry.

The ministry noted that challenging conditions, such as currents and low visibility, complicated the dive. Among the raised artefacts were items showcasing both the ship’s functional use and luxurious nature: the lookout bell, the navigation lamp, silver-plated first-class trays, ceramic tiles from a Turkish bath, a pair of passenger binoculars, and a porcelain sink from second-class cabins.

Currently undergoing conservation in the Greek capital of Athens, these artefacts will soon join the permanent collection at the forthcoming Museum of Underwater Antiquities, set to open at the port of Piraeus. This museum will include a World War I section, with the Britannic items as its centerpiece.

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