The Lusitania - Q.B.D. (Adm.Ct.) (Sheen J.) - 29 November 1985

Salvors can keep “Lusitania” contents

The claimants had performed salvage operations on the wreck of the Lusitania , sunk in 1915 by submarine U-20 of the Imperial German Navy outside U.K. territorial waters. Some 94 items were salved by the claimants. Some of the items were part of the vessel (legal ownership of which was now with the insurance company which had paid the shipowners in respect of the loss), but others were the personal property of the passengers and general cargo. The latter category was termed by the court - “the contents”, in contrast to the items belonging to the vessel which were now legally owned by the insurance company.