Iron-eating microbes are steadily breaking down the actual sunken ship, but the pieces already culled from the wreck's 13-mile debris field are "spectacular, " said John Joslyn, the owner of a pair of Titanic theme museums in Missouri and Tennessee who helped to fund the first salvaging expedition in 1987.

WSJ: Titanic Shipwreck Is Up for Sale at Guernsey's

The team from the University of Rennes in France say they found the crystal while examining the wreck of a British ship sunk off the island of Alderney - in the English Channel - in 1592.

BBC: 'Viking sunstone' found in shipwreck

Trustees had hoped the building set to house the hull of the 500-year-old ship would be ready in 2012 for the 30th anniversary of the wreck's discovery.

BBC: Portsmouth Mary Rose museum not opening until 2013

The Royal Navy were rallied and they led the bombing runs dropping 62, 000lbs of bombs, 5, 200 gallons of petrol, 11 high-powered rockets and an undisclosed amount of napalm on the wreck and the surrounding waters, sinking the ship, but not really dispersing the oil.

BBC: Torrey Canyon seabed returns to normal after oil spill