|
|
||||
|
|
||||
Welcome to the Underwater Archaeology Homepage from UnderwaterArchaeology.com! |
|
|||
|
Titanic Underwater Few shipwrecks have captured the public imagination as much as the story of the Titanic. On April 10th 1912, the RMS Titanic left Southampton England on her maiden voyage, destined for New York City. She was touted as "unsinkable," - the safest ship ever built.
In fact, she was thought to be so safe that she carried only a small number of lifeboats, just in case she came upon another ship in need! Her passenger list contained a mixture of both elite first class passengers, as well as a large contingent of immigrants packed into lower levels. Four days after launch, she struck an iceberg with a glancing blow and slowly sank, taking with her over 1500 people to their deaths. The discovery of this legendary shipwreck was the subject of a special investigation by Dr. Robert Ballard that spanned more than a decade. Robert Ballard and the Search for the Titanic Robert Ballard, a researcher from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, made his first attempt to locate the wreck of the Titanic in 1977. Using the Alcoa Seaprobe, a drilling ship belonging to the Alcoa Aluminum Company, Ballard set out with his team to the last known coordinates of the Titanic, Latitude: 41° 46' N and Longitude: 50° 14' W. Using the large derrick of the drilling rig, a pod of research equipment was lowered to the sea bed at the end of 60 foot segments of poles, in the same manner that a drilling head would be lowered. The mission, however, ended in disaster when the piping snapped. The experimental research pod fell to ocean floor to be lost forever. Ballard and his team returned home empty-handed. Argo and the Development of Unmanned Vehicles Ballard was an advocate of developing a system of underwater research using unmanned vehicles, and he spent much of the time from 1980 to 1984 developing a tow sled system which he envisioned would be tethered to a ship miles overhead, manned by a crew of operators not sitting in the crowded, dangerous confines of a submersible system, but from a control room safely at the surface of the ocean. While some of the world's top experts mounted expeditions in 1980, 1981, and 1983 in search of Titanic, Ballard and his team waited patiently developing their system. Their patience was rewarded, because the Titanic was not found by the other researchers. A massive ship at 900 feet long, the Titanic proved to be an elusive target. For researchers at the oceans surface, even with her last known coordinates defining the search area, searching for the Titanic was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A massive object 900 feet long is a tiny target from 2 and 1/2 miles away. Ballard and his team waited 12 years. They would finally get their second chance. Second Chance in 1985 Instead of searching for the Titanic itself, Ballard and his team knew they had a much better chance if they could locate the debris field of the Titanic. Debris from a shipwreck in water that deep can spread out for miles, and the discovery of a field of tiny objects littered across the sand would be much easier than pinpointing the ship herself. Once the debris field was located, the trail made by the falling objects could be easily traced to the mighty ship herself. This was the philosophy that Ballard and his team carried with them on their second quest to locate Titanic in 1985. Dr. Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel from the French Institute for Research and Exploration of the Seas launched an expedition from July 9th to August 7th aboard the French ship Le Suroit. Using a technique known to researchers as "mowing the lawn," they began searching an area of 150 square miles using side-scanning high resolution sonar in search of the Titanic. But when the time allotted for the expeditions use of Le Suroit was used up, she was called away for duty elsewhere. Nothing was found. Argo Finds Titanic Underwater Ballard and his team transferred to the the US Naval - Woods Hole research vessel Knorr, and on August 22nd, continued the search where the Le Suroit had left off, but instead of using the wide sweeping sonar system employed by the Le Suroit, they towed the forward-scanning and side-scanning sonar sled "Argo," on a cable 2 1/2 miles below them, just above the ocean floor. Researchers in the control room high above Argo diligently watched video reported back from Argo's high resolution cameras, watching for any signs of debris. Then, early in the morning on September 1st, 1985, they began to see signs of tiny pieces of man-made objects scattered on the ordinarily smooth sea floor. At approximately 2 am, a larger object came into view. As Argo's video cameras focused in for a better look, it became clear that the object was one of the Titanic's boilers, which must have broken free as the ship tumbled to the bottom. The massive ship lay just ahead. After 73 years sitting alone on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, the wreck of the Titanic had been found, 13,000 feet below the surface. Press Release The following press release was issued after the discovery of the Titanic. "The Titanic itself lies in 13,000 feet of water on a gently sloping alpine-like countryside overlooking a small canyon below. Its bow faces north and the ship sits upright on the bottom. Its mighty stacks point upward. . . . It is quiet and peaceful and a fitting place for the remains of this greatest of sea tragedies to rest. May it forever remain that way and may God bless these found souls". Return to the Titanic In 1986 Ballard returned to the
Titanic aboard the Atlantis II, this time bringing along "Alvin,"
a deep-diving submersible capable of carrying a crew of three.
Also brought along was the even smaller ROV Jason Junior, a
self-propelled device tethered to Alvin by a 250 cable.
Alvin visited Titanic and Jason Junior was sent to penetrate and explore
the interior, sending back unforgettable images of staterooms, and
perfectly preserved artifacts such as china, dinner plates, drinking
glasses, and bottles of wine,- all chilling reminders of the tragedy had
come at the cost of over 1500 lives. No bodies or human remains
have been found. Interesting links for further reading: Return to Titanic: History of RMS Titanic: Diving for Diamonds: Diving on the Titanic:
|
|
|
||
|
Copyright 2006-2007 The Underwater Archaeology Homepage from UnderwaterArchaeology.com. Please note: this site does not claim endorsement for or by externally linked sites. |
||||
|
|
||||
|
Underwater Archaeology Links General Archaeology Links World Travel
Links: 1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
Aquarium Links
Scuba Diving & Underwater |
||||
