Keighley-born salvage expert Graham Jessop, pictured, has been to the bottom of the ocean to view the world's most famous shipwreck.

The son of the famous Keighley-born diver Keith Jessop described the thrill of seeing parts of the Titanic unseen by human eyes for 88 years, and being given a unique whiff of history in the form of perfume recovered from the wreck.

But as he was two-and-a-half miles underwater in an 18-tonne submersible, the Supreme Court in Washington, USA, dealt a blow to the company RMS Titanic Inc, where Graham is recovery manager.

The company lost its appeal to keep tourists away from the wreckage.

The company still has exclusive salvage rights. But America's highest court has upheld a ruling that RMS Titanic Inc cannot stop others from visiting, viewing, searching and taking pictures of the wreck, just as long as any visits don't interfere with salvage rights.

The challenge was mounted by Phoenix businessman Christopher Haver and a British company Deep Ocean Expeditions, which wants to charge $32,500 per person to dive down and photograph Titanic's wreckage.

Lawyers for Graham's company claim the ruling "leaves a gaping hole in admiralty law which will encourage lawlessness and anarchy on the high seas".

Yesterday Graham was understood to be returning to his office in Atlanta. At his home in Normandy, France, Keith said: "I have heard of this ruling but have not had chance to discuss what it means with Graham.

"I do know he has been down to see the Titanic and it was everything he expected."

Earlier this year, Graham and his team found the remains of the Carpathia -- the ship which raced to rescue 700 survivors after the Titanic sank off Newfoundland on her maiden voyage in 1912. In June the Keighley News exclusively reported how the 43-year-old had been appointed an official ''guardian'' of the Titanic.

Speaking on a satellite phone direct from the Russian research ship the Academic Keldysh, Graham said a host of fascinating artefacts had been recovered from the ocean depths.

He said: "We've made six dives so far and working on the debris field to the east of the wreck, which has items from all decks scattered around it, we've found and recovered a diversity of artefacts.

"We've got about 20-30 small crystal phials containing perfume which were being sent out to America by a company from Manchester.

"The perfume's still inside, but one of the phials was leaking and you could smell the lavender fragrance.

"We've also found a leather bag full of all sorts of documents and papers as well as larger items such as bath taps we think could be from the Captain's cabin, bronze lions heads from table legs and a bottle still containing olive oil which would have been from the galley.

"Because they come from the Titanic there's an incredible amount of interest in any and every artefact we find and after going for conservation they'll go to various public exhibitions around the world.''

Graham - who lives in France - was due to make his first two-and-a-half mile dive to the wreck aboard a three-man, 18-ton submersible over the weekend.

Talking before the dive - the descent alone takes more than two hours - he said: "I'm very excited about it - it's such a unique wreck because of things such as the depth, the amount of preservation and the amount that's upright.

"There can't be many more famous wrecks than the Titanic and coming after we found the Carpathia it will be a unique experience.

"This is the first time we've been able to do a methodical search of the wreck site using electronic equipment and we've seen things that have never been seen before such as large sections of engine and a set of boilers which have all been photographed.''

Graham said they would remain at the wreck site for another week or so and hoped to return in the future but added: "The wreck is starting to deteriorate and break down because of natural forces and the general feeling is that it's about ready to collapse so it's very important to recover as many artefacts as possible before they're lost forever.''

Speaking from their home in France, Graham's wife Ann said: "This is keeping the family name going and to do the Carpathia and the Titanic in the same year is quite something.''