THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180206
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
With great care, lawyers opened a cardboard box filled with booty from the shipwreck Lusitania, then laid the artifacts on an old wooden table in Norfolk's federal court.
It was no treasure: eight white china plates, some discolored, one cracked; four spoons, very rusty; and a gold-colored watch case, stuck shut.
And yet, despite their decrepit condition, the artifacts drew a small and admiring crowd of court employees, news reporters and a judge Friday as they were displayed publicly for the first time.
The artifacts were hauled out for what was probably the last hearing in the case - a year-old dispute over who owns the trinkets and the shipwreck from which they came.
The man who who started it all - F. Gregg Bemis Jr. of Santa Fe, N.M., who filed his claim to the Lusitania in Norfolk's federal court in February 1994 - returned Friday. He testified at length about how he and two friends had acquired the wreck in 1967 and 1968, and how he came to be the sole owner.
But the hearing was most notable for who was not there.
The Irish government, which is belatedly trying to protect the ship, 80 years after it sank, did not send a representative. The Lusitania lies 12 miles off the Irish coast.
Four American divers who explored the wreck last summer and challenged Bemis' claim were not present. A judge had thrown out their claim in December.
And a Massachusetts widow who also challenged Bemis, but settled her claim last month, also did not show. Her late husband was one of Bemis' partners in 1968.
That left Bemis as the last claimant to the historic ship.
The Lusitania was the fastest and biggest luxury liner of its day. It is one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world. It was sunk by a German torpedo in 1915 - 10 months after World War I began.
The incident helped push America into the war. Nearly 2,000 passengers and crew members, including 128 Americans, were killed when the British ship went down.
On Friday, Bemis and his lawyers, Glen Huff and Richard Robol, tried to convince the judge that Bemis holds clear title to the ship. There was no opposition.
Bemis said he is talking with several museums, including Norfolk's Nauticus, about setting up a Lusitania exhibit. He plans more dives to retrieve more artifacts for an exhibit.
But Judge J. Calvitt Clarke was not entirely convinced. He questioned Bemis several times on details of his business dealings. He also wondered whether it matters how he rules: In January, the Irish government banned diving at the wreck site.
``It looks like the Irish government isn't going to let anyone do any salvaging anyway,'' Clarke said.
Bemis, after the hearing, said he may not need government approval to dive the wreck if he is the lawful owner.
Clarke said he will rule later. by CNB