J. Calvitt Clarke Jr., 83; Judge Oversaw Salvage Rights of the Titanic

J. Calvitt Clarke Jr., 83, the retired U.S. District Court judge who oversaw the salvage rights of the Titanic shipwreck, died Thursday in Virginia Beach, Va., following a long illness.

In 1994, two years after he took charge of the shipwreck case, Clarke granted sole salvage rights to Atlanta-based RMS Titanic Inc. He continued to oversee dives, salvage reports and preservation of artifacts until his death, even though he retired from the bench in 1999.

The city attorney for Richmond, Va., for 30 years, Clarke was named to the bench in 1974 by President Ford. Among the notable cases that came before Clarke were the 1985 espionage trial of Arthur James Walker and the late 1970s litigation over pollution of the James River in Virginia by the pesticide Kepone.

Clarke also presided over the ownership and salvage rights of the Lusitania wreckage and handled early asbestos damage lawsuits and highway construction bid-rigging cases.