On the 19th of December back in 1997, a movie came out that changed the world. Exactly 18 years ago, a movie called Titanic came out and basically turned the world on its ear. Directed by James Cameron, and starring Kate Winslet, and Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie showed the world the story about tragic love aboard a doomed ship. Not only did the movie show the world just how talented James Cameron was as a writer and director, but also reminded the world of a tragic ship that was only sailed for four days. The movie shattered every box office record there was, and for 12 years, dominated as the number one movie ever. The world caught Titanic fever, and has had it ever since. However, one question that emerged from watching the Titanic movie was, will the ship herself ever be raised? A much debated subject, many people have put forth suggestions that are both interesting, and unusual. Here are 10 ways that people have come up with for how to raise the Titanic from the bottom of the ocean.
1. Fill the Hull with Ping Pong Balls
Back in 1912, after the Titanic sank, there were dozens of ideas that people had in order to rase the ship from the bottom of the ocean. One of the more unusual suggestion was to fill the Titanic with ping pong balls. Who knew that ping pong balls could be so handy? The small balls are filled with air, and when you get a lot of them together, they can make anything buoyant, including a sunken ocean liner. The idea was to take thousands of ping pong balls, use a hose to fill them the ship, and the balls would make the ship light enough to rise to the top. However, the two problems are how to get the hose down over two miles to the bottom of the ocean, and the pressure at that depth would crush them into pancakes. However, the idea is actually sound, and the popular TV show, MythBusters, proved that the balls could actually make a sunken ship float.
2. Fill the Hull with Petroleum Jelly
After Dr. Robert Ballard found the Titanic in 1985, people came up with more ideas on how to bring the Titanic from the bottom of the ocean. Another colorful suggestion was that the Titanic be pumped full of petroleum jelly. There is no proof that petroleum jelly can float, and the idea would involve using over 180,000 tons of it.
3. Encasing the Titanic In Ice
How ironic is it that ice sank the Titanic, and someone proposed the idea of using ice to bring the ship to the surface. The idea involving using liquid nitrogen, and the wreck wold be sprayed with it, which would instantly freeze it. However, given the difficulty of the task, this idea does not seem to… float.
4. Fill the Hull with Boiling Wax
Wax is one of the few substances on earth that can solidify when it is cold. Someone came up with the idea of using tons of hot liquid wax pumped into the hull of the ship. However, the problem is that would the wax actually stay liquid even when it is being poured through a hose that is over two miles long? While the idea seems interesting, using heated hoses that far to the Titanic wreck did not seem plausible.
5. Use Magnets to Draw the Ship to the Surface
No matter what condition the Titanic is now, the fact is that she is still made of steel. Naturally, metal and magnets are drawn to one another, so one of the more practical ways to bring the ship up was to use gigantic magnets. The architect of this idea was a man named Charles Smith, and his idea involved attaching magnets to the ship, then using more magnets attached to a cable, to bring the ship up. Once the ship on the surface began towing the cable up, the Titanic would follow thanks to the power of attraction.
Interesting right? There are more ideas that will be included in the next post, but people sure did come up with interesting ideas for bringing a sunken ship to the surface. However, due to the status of the ship, it would be impossible to bring the Titanic into the daylight once again, but people were sure willing to use just about anything they could that would float.
