Divers have recovered artifacts from the sister ship of the RMS Titanic.
The dives on the HMHS Britannic were conducted in May, but the details of what was found were released by officials in Greece this week, the BBC reported.
A team of 11 deep-sea divers brought up the ship’s lookout bell, a navigation lamp from the port side of the ship, binoculars, Turkish baths’ ceramic tiles and items from first- and second-class cabins.
“Conditions at the wreck site were particularly challenging due to currents, depth and low visibility,” the team said, according to The Times.
The group was put together by British amateur historian Simon Mills and supervised by Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities (EUA). Mills is the founder of the Britannic Foundation.
Some items that were expected to be recovered could not be because of their condition and location.
Those that were able to be recovered were brought to the surface by air bags, put in containers and then cleaned of marine organisms, the BBC said.
They will be taken to the EUA in Athens for conservation before being put on display at the National Museum of Underwater Antiquities in Piraeus. They will be housed in a part of the museum that focuses on World War I.
The Britannic, which was the third of the White Star line’s Olympic class ships, was sunk by a German mine on Nov. 16, 1916, Greek officials said.
It was being used during World War I as a hospital ship and was carrying 1,065 people when it was hit. Thirty people died when two lifeboats got pulled into the ship’s propellers.
The ship sank near Kea in the Aegean Sea during its sixth trip, taking injured soldiers from the Middle East to the U.K. and went down in less than an hour, The Times reported..
The Britannic was the same length as its more famous sister, the Titanic, at 882 feet long, but had a bit wider berth.
Of the three ships, only the RMS Olympic had a long life carrying passengers. It was launched in 1911 and sailed for 24 years after undergoing safety improvements following the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic.
The Olympic was sold for scrap in 1935, The Times reported.
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