Artifacts Recovered from HMHS Britannic Wreck in Greek Waters

The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on Monday the successful retrieval of artifacts from the wreck of the HMHS Britannic, the Titanic’s sister ship, which sank in 1916 off the coast of Greece. The deep-sea recovery operation in May involved divers working at depths exceeding 120 meters (394 feet) to bring up items from the wreck site.

The Britannic, constructed alongside the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, was repurposed as a hospital ship during World War I under the British Admiralty. In November 1916, the vessel struck a German mine near the island of Kea and sank in under an hour. Of the 1,065 people on board, 30 lost their lives after two lifeboats were caught in the ship’s propellers.

The salvage project was conducted by a skilled 11-person team of professional deep-sea divers employing closed-circuit diving systems. British amateur historian Simon Mills, founder of the Britannic Foundation, organized the research program, which was overseen by Greece’s Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

According to the Culture Ministry, "conditions at the wreck site were exceptionally challenging due to strong currents, significant depth, and limited visibility," which prevented the retrieval of some targeted objects based on their position and preservation state.

Objects successfully recovered include the ship’s observation post bell, a portside signal lamp, portable equipment from first and second class sections, ceramic tiles from the onboard Turkish bath, and a pair of binoculars. These artifacts have been taken to laboratories in Athens for conservation and are expected to be displayed permanently at a new underwater antiquities museum currently being developed in Piraeus.

The Britannic was the third of three sister ships, with the RMS Olympic operational from 1911 to 1935, undergoing safety upgrades after the Titanic disaster in 1912.