Hi, Stuart:
In 1989, the first two of the salvaged Lusitana pieces were placed on the auction block in London. They were the crow's nest bell and the whistle from the second funnel. Because of the limited interest in the auction (more than likely brought about by a lack of proper advertising), the prices realized were ridiculously low, and Oceaneering decided against publicly auctioning the remaining items.
A year later Oceaneering contacted a few individuals (Ken Marschall and I being two of them) and held a sealed-bid auction to sell off the artifacts that were still in their possession. Nearly all the available items were purchased during this sale. Most went into private collections, but a dealer in Southampton bought a number of smaller pieces for resale -- mostly watch cases and movements -- and some better items for his own collection.
You asked what the going rate is for a piece of the Lusitania. That's hard to answer because none of the really nice artifacts have come up for sale for the last ten years. I'll reiterate that the prices Oceaneering got for the items were far short of their true value. For example, right after I purchased the whistle at Sotheby's, a well-known dealer told a friend of mine that he would have paid three times what I did for it.
My stance on salvage must be fairly obvious to anyone reading this, but I'd like to say that the salvaged items I own were purchased only after coming to an agreement with the Los Angeles Maritime Museum that these artifacts would be placed on permanent display. After traveling to England, working out a deal for the items, and purchasing them, the man in charge of the museum changed his mind and decided he didn't want to display any of them. To this day, no good reason has ever been offered.
Having bought all these items, I then contacted a number of other museums in an effort to place them on permanent loan, most notably the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Lusitania's home port of Liverpool. Each museum in turn declined. Again, with no reasonable explanation given. Merseyside feebly told me that "we don't have a Lusitania display." I thought that strange considering that just a short time later a major Titanic/Lusitania exhibit opened.
I'm pleased to say, though, that over the years the whistle and a few smaller items have been lent to museums for exhibition. The most recent display of the whistle was at the Seamen's Church Institute in New York for their Liners at War exhibit.
As for the salvage views of BTS, Geoff wrote: "As a Society it would be wrong to impose our own views on the membership."
Let the members think for themselves? Wow, what a novel idea....
Geoff then said: "My point is that if it's morally acceptable to loot other wrecks, why is so much commotion made over the Titanic?"
I really wish I could answer your question, Geoff. I have no idea why people think it is okay for salvagers to work some wrecks (like Lusitania, Empress of Ireland, and
Andrea Doria) when bringing up items from Titanic is one of the worst crimes against humanity. A number of very good friends of mine and fellow researchers are anti-salvage and we've discussed the issue at length, and although I respect their opinions, I do not agree with them.
"I can argue this point until I'm blue in the face but I never seem to receive a satisfactory reply!"
And I don't think you ever will. People's views on salvage are usually emotionally driven, and Titanic seems always to be placed in a category all its own although no one has yet to explain to me in non-emotional terms why salvaging Titanic is bad but it's okay for other wrecks. Were the lives lost in other shipwrecks any less valuable than those lost on Titanic? I think not. So why the difference?
Eric Sauder
