Titanic Wreck

Titanic Shipwreck

Titanic Wreck Pictures

The idea of finding and raising the Titanic was thought of very soon after the sinking of the vessel. However, the first successful attempt at locating the Titanic Wreck was in 1985 by a French and American expedition led by Jean-Louis Michel and Dr. Robert Ballard. The Titanic wreck was located at a depth of 2.4 miles  about 370 miles from Forgotten Point, Newfoundland, 13 miles from fourth officer Joseph Boxhall’s last position reading where Titanic was originally thought to rest. The fallen vessel was located using a side-scan sonar mounted on the vessel Knorr. Ballard returned a year later to conduct the first human dives in the submersible “Alvin”. The expedition was funded by the United States Navy under the private conditions that the wreckage of two U.S. submarines by the names of Thresher and Scorpion were first discovered. The Titanic shipwreck offered interesting facts and information about the sinking of the Titanic as well as artifacts from her watery grave.

One of the main focal points of the wreck that scientists noticed was that the ship had actually split apart, contrary to what was popular belief. The bow was found 1,970 feet from the stern facing opposite directions which contradicted British and American accounts of the sinking of the Titanic. The bow was found to be in much better shape than the stern, as it was probably already filled with water before sinking. The bow is embedded 60 feet into the silt on the ocean floor, and although parts of it are under stress and ready to collapse, it is in relatively good shape. The stern likely had trapped air inside when it sunk, and therefore imploded in areas and received extensive damage upon hitting the ocean floor; the decks collapsed upon impact.

Many artifacts such as wooden (including french polished Mahogany) furniture, silverware, and dinnerware was found in the Titanic shipwreck while most of the softer material including carpet, human remains and, wood has been devoured by undersea organisms. Dr. Ballard initially did not take up any Titanic artifacts as he considered this a form of grave robbing, but throughout history more than 6,000 artifacts from the Titanic wreck have been recovered. Among these is the ship’s whistle which was recovered in 1992 and has been operated twice using compressed air as opposed to steam due to its fragility. Most of the artifacts from the Titanic shipwreck are on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.

The current condition of the Titanic wreck is deteriorating and very unstable. Scientists estimate that the extra damage caused by tourists will cause the ship to collapse to the ocean floor within the net 50 years. most of the wood including the crows nest and mast have completely deteriorated.

A legal battle has been ensuing over the ownership of the Titanic wreck as well as the artifacts pulled up, the largest being a 17 ton piece of the hull.

Titanic Wreck Artifacts