NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The salvage firm that has plucked silverware, china and gold coins from the wreckage of the Titanic now wants to recover the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Machine that transmitted the doomed ship's distress calls.
Lawyers for R.M.S. Titanic, Inc., called witnesses before a federal judge yesterday to explain why the company should be allowed to possibly cut into the rapidly deteriorating ship to recover the device before it's irretrievable.
An oceanographer who works for the firm says the telegraph machine is "one of those iconic artifacts, like the signal flares" the sinking ship launched.
The federal judge who presides over Titanic salvage matters says it's too early to make any decisions on the proposal.
