Conservation of the RMS Titanic "Big Piece": a Case Study and Critical

Conservation of the RMS Titanic "Big Piece": A Case Study and Critical Evaluation Author(s): JOSEPH SEMBRAT, PATRICIA MILLER and JUSTINE POSLUSZNY BELLO Source: APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, Vol. 43, No. 4, SPECIAL ISSUE ON IRON AND STEEL (2012), pp. 41-50 Published by: Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41827038 Accessed: 28-01-2019 17:30 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41827038?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology This content downloaded from 38.125.11.94 on Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:30:22 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms Conservation of the RMS Titanic "Big Piece": A Case Study and Critical Evaluation JOSEPH SEMBRAT, PATRICIA MILLER, AND JUSTINE POSLUSZNY BELLO The salvage and treatment of a Introduction the central section of the hull (Fig. I).1 significant section of the Titanic The RMS Titanic is one of the most Following recovery, the fragment was subdivided into two pieces of unequal illustrate the great logistical and storied sea vessels in history. Despite size, which are known anecdotally as the sinking a century ago, this massive ship technological challenges associated "Big Piece" and the "Little Big Piece." continues to captivate the curious pub- with the conservation of a The Big Piece is a 17-ton artifact that lic and vested professionals alike. As the measures 25 feet by 12 feet and consists monumental iron artifact recovered now-familiar history goes, while en of three steel plates, each approximately from a marine environment. route from Belfast to New York, the 1 inch thick, riveted to each other and to Titanic struck an iceberg. The impact eight segments of the original steel compromised rivet seams in a section of frame. Four bronze portholes, three of the hull, creating a 32-foot-long gash below the waterline. Under substantial which retain glass, and a lead methane pipe are part of the piece. In some loca- stresses, rivets failed, seams parted, tions original paint still survives.2 plates cracked, and compartments filled This paper discusses how the treat- with water, ultimately leading to the ment of the Big Piece evolved over the sinking of the ship on April 15, 1912. course of nearly a decade, a period Lost for decades, the wreck site was during which the authors had several discovered in 1985, miles below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean opportunities to reevaluate and re-treat and more than 300 miles southeast of the artifact. The discussion is placed Newfoundland. The hull fractured into within the context of several larger two main sections and sank to the themes, including the emergence of new iron and steel materials and fabrication ocean floor, landing nearly 2,000 feet methods at the turn of the twentieth apart. As they spiraled downwards, century; substantial metallurgical and their contents scattered, forming what is referred to as the debris field. forensic testing performed on this artifact; and the challenges associated with In 1998 a 20-ton fragment of the hull was recovered from the wreck site. The recovery of this and similar large-scale marine artifacts. The paper summarizes fragment was subsequently identified as the treatments performed, which in- shell plating from two empty first-class cluded both traditional and novel meth- suites, C-79 and C-81, just forward of Fig. 1 . Diagram illustrating the approximate location of the Big Piece on the RMS Titanic. All images by Joseph Sembrai, unless otherwise noted. 41 This content downloaded from 38.125.11.94 on Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:30:22 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms 42 APT BULLETIN: JOURNAL OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY / 43:4, 2012 Fig. 2. Timeline of milestones in the recovery and treatment of the Big Piece. ods, and the reasons for which they The hull of the Titanic was con- wrought-iron to steel rivets for the were, selected (Fig. 2). Finally, the au- structed of more than 2,000 rolled mild- greater strength of the steel rivets. Inno- thors evaluate the efficacy of select steel plates VI 2 inches thick, 30 feet vations in the manufacturing of steel treatments with the advantage of hind- long by 6 feet wide, triple-layered, and meant that its prices were falling at a sight, given the curatorial and conserva- stitched together with more than 3 time when the cost of wrought iron was tion parameters specific to this project.3 million rivets in distinct configurations. increasing. Unlike wrought-iron rivets, The design specified double-riveted lap which had to be installed by hand, steel Turn-of-the-Century Shipbuilding: and butt joints for seams at the bow and rivets could be installed by machine, Materials and Fabrication stern sections. Triple- and quadruple- which reportedly increased construction riveted overlapping joints added strength rates twelve-fold. Although labor was The Titanic was one of three White Star in the central section, where the ship generally cheap, a sufficient and reliable Line "Olympic-class" liners constructed had to withstand the greatest stresses. pool of skilled labor needed to construct by Harland &; Wolff in Belfast in the Specifications called for hydraulic- these ships was hard to come by. There- first decade of the twentieth century. machine-driven mild-steel rivets to be fore, a mechanical innovation such as Each was touted as having the best the used throughout the ship wherever this appealed to shipbuilders working on world could offer in a passenger sea possible; hand-hammered wrought-iron compressed timelines with limited re- vessel: speed, luxury, modernity, and rivets were to be used in construction of sources, further accelerating the techno- safety. The Titanic boasted a length of all frames and anywhere machine rivet- logical migration to steel. 883 feet and a gross weight 46,329 ers could not be used due to restricted tons; contained 3 engines, 29 boilers, clearance. In general, steel rivets were Recovery and Research and 159 furnaces; and carried more used in the central hull and deck plates, than 2,100 passengers on her maiden and wrought-iron rivets were used in the The discovery of the Titanic in 1985 voyage. bow and stern plates.6 renewed a flurry of interest in the ship, The Olympic class was conceived The various types and mixed use of both in popular culture and in scientific during a period of intense competition rivets in the construction of the Titanic communities. Nearly all shared an interest in what sank the Titanic . A series between Great Britain, Germany, and is an indication of how this ship strad- America for domination in transatlantic dled a metallurgical and technological of early expeditions by various parties transport.4 Shipbuilding technology was frontier and illustrates a number of com- recovered thousands of artifacts, which in the midst of being transformed from peting industrial and economic forces fueled some early independent research, an industry of manpower to one domi- that were at play. Although steel had conservation, and metallurgical testing.7 nated by the machine. Materials were become the primary hull-plate material However, in an attempt to answer the also changing: wrought iron, used only in the first years of the twentieth cen- question as to the cause of the catas- to clad wooden hulls in the early part of tury, wrought iron still held onto a place trophe, as well as to meet numerous the nineteenth century, was being used in shipbuilding. Due in large part to its other goals in a more comprehensive with steel in all parts of shipbuilding by ductility, wrought iron was reasonably way, RMS Titanic, Inc. - the salvor-in- the late nineteenth century. Steel-built easy to hammer, shape, and form by possession - and other invested parties hull design was common to the industry hand. This workability, combined with led an expedition to recover a substantial section of the hull in 1996. 8 In this by the late 1880s; the British Standards its tensile strength, made it a favorable Institute followed this trend and offi- material for rivets in all types of con- first recovery attempt, the piece was raised to within 200 feet of the surface cially approved open-hearth steel for struction of the time, from ships to when retrieval had to be aborted. rivets and plates in 1906. 5 bridges to buildings. However, shipbuilders had begun transitioning from This content downloaded from 38.125.11.94 on Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:30:22 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms CONSERVATION OF THE RMS TITANIC "BIG PIECE" 43 Fig. 3. The Big Piece shortly after it emerged from the sea aboard Fig. the 4. A surviving bronze porthole and rusticles, which remained intact on recovery ship, 1 998. the surface of the Big Piece, shortly following recovery, Boston, Mass., 1998. Although the desired hull piece could rivets; this effort was led by Tim Foecke cause of this substantial initial invest- not be raised at that time, iron and steel (National Institute of Standards and ment, recovery also necessitates a com- recovered from the wreck site enabled Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.) and mitment to conservation, management, the first authorized forensic testing on Prof.

Load more