#Lusitania - The main ship’s telegraph from the Lusitania has been recovered from the wreck site off West Cork.
Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys made the announcement last Wednesday (26 July) as the telegraph was undergoing preliminary conservation on shore by the National Monuments Service.
Earlier in the week, divers licensed by the minister — and with the consent of the wreck’s owner, American millionaire Gregg Bemis — had spotted the device feared lost after a botched retrieval operation last year.
“I am happy to confirm that this important piece of the Lusitania has now been recovered from the wreck off the West Cork coast,” said Minister Humphreys. “I understand that the telegraph is undamaged and in excellent condition.”
Bemis intends to place the telegraph, along with its pedestal successfully recovered last ear, on display in a local museum along with a number of other artefacts from the wreck.
Questions were raised by an Oireachtas committee in March after the telegraph was lost from a burst lift bag during an unsupervised dive off the Old Head of Kinsale last summer.
Another telegraph from the ill-fated liner, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat during the First World War, was recovered later in 2016.
