Titanic: where exactly the ocean liner sank and how its wreckage was found in 1985

14th April 1912: Survivors watch from the lifeboats as the ill-fated White Star liner, the 'Titanic', plunges beneath the waves. Original Publication: Illustrated London News - pub. 1912 Original Publication: From a special supplement of 'Graphic'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The authorities of The United States and Canada are working against the clock to try to find the submersible that disappeared with 5 people on board. while doing a dive to visit the wreck of the Titanic.

The boat disappeared on Sunday morning, 1 hour and 45 minutes after starting the dive.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company that operates the missing submersible, said in a statement that it is “exploring and mobilizing all options” to bring the crew back safely.

The company reported that it has received "extensive assistance" from "various government agencies and specialized deep-water companies" in its efforts to re-establish contact with the submersible.

Map

BBC

Where is the Titanic and how deep

The remains of the Titanic are located in the north atlantic oceanabout 600 km southeast of the Newfoundland coast, in Canada, and at about 3,800 meters deep.

They are divided into two parts, with the bow and stern separated by about 800 meters.

A huge field of debris surrounds the two parts of the boat.

The remains are south of the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, in an area known as the cannon of the titanica name that was given to it at the proposal of marine geologist Alan Ruffmann in 1991.

In his time, andThe Titanic became the world's largest passenger ship and it became sadly famous because between the night of April 14 and the early morning of April 15, 1912 sank on her maiden voyage from Southampton, in the United Kingdom, to New York, in the USA, after colliding with an iceberg.

More than 1,500 people died in the tragedy.

The story of how his remains were found in 1985 became known thanks to the declassification of some secret documents by the US government.

Image of the remains of the Titanic

Getty Images

How they found the remains of the Titanic

Robert Ballard, an intelligence officer who had participated in secret missions for the US Navy, was one of those who dared to search for the remains of the Titanic in the 1980s.

The US Navy agreed to give him the means to search for the ship, but only if he used those same resources to find two US nuclear submarines that had sunk in the Atlantic in the 1960s.

The Franco-American secret mission aboard the Knorr research ship ripped in August from 1985.

The excuse of the search for the Titanic was perfect so that the Russians and the press would not suspect that they were looking for the sunken submarines.

The first part of the mission was successful. Ballard found the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion submarines.

Ballard's problem is that he only had 12 days to find the Titanic, since the boat he was using had already been rented by other people.

In the end, with the experience he gained searching for the Scorpion, Ballard found the Titanic in just 8 dayson September 1, 1985thanks to the Argo submersible, which was equipped with cameras that could transmit images to the surface.

Ballard recalled in an interview with the BBC in 2021 that they experienced a moment of euphoria when they spotted the wreckage of the ship, but that happiness quickly faded.

“It dawned on us that we were dancing on someone's grave,” Ballard recalled.

"We feel ashamed."


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