Conservation of artefacts from the RMS Titanic: a herculean challenge and a rare privilege Dr Ian D MacLeod, Executive Director, Collections Management and Conservation, Western Australian Museum

Thursday 20 May 6pm to 7pm
Conservator Dr Ian MacLeod provides a unique insight into this most famous of all shipwrecks. Having worked on items as massive as the spare connecting rod from the engine room to the oboes and clarinets played as the ship went down, Ian MacLeod will talk about the fate of the objects and the ultimate fate of the crew and passengers on the RMS Titanic.

How did this work come about? A young French conservation masters intern came to the Western Australian Museum in Fremantle to learn about decay of metals on shipwrecks. Stephane Pennec worked his heart out on shipwreck objects made of cast and wrought iron as well as non-ferrous metals. He had done some preliminary work with Electicite de France on treatment of objects from the Titanic and developed his skills in Fremantle. Back in France his laboratory group LP3 Conservation successfully tendered for the contract work of conserving the materials to be recovered from the debris field by RMS Titanic Inc. The treatments and the problems were shared with Ian MacLeod and we worked collaboratively to stabilise some very tricky materials.

This talk will focus on the challenges of identifying the unusual corrosion products found on the wreck and how they have helped to solve the mystery of the apparently anomalous behaviour of the decay processes down at remarkable depths in the cold dark but oxygenated waters of the wreck site. Through understanding of the impacts of pressure on the chemistry of calcium minerals the absence of human remains is explained and the new methods developed for treating delicate newspapers and leather items from the wreck will be revealed.

Dr Ian MacLeod is a corrosion chemist and materials conservator who has worked for the Western Australian Museum for the past 30 years. He pioneered the use of in-situ corrosion measurements on historic shipwrecks, with particular emphasis on the use of sacrificial anodes to preserve materials on the seabed. He has studied the microstructure of metals covering a wide range of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys and has learnt how changes in the formulation of alloys and the work history of the objects predisposes them to particular patterns of decay.

State: VIC

Where: Age Theatre, Melbourne Museum

When: Thursday 20 May 6pm to 7pm

Cost: Free but bookings essential. Places are limited.

Contact: Telephone 13 11 02.