The Titanic

The Titanic was a massive ship that sank in 1912. When it started to sink, the captain sent out a distress call giving the longitude and latitude of the ship in the North Atlantic Ocean. One ship heard the distress call, and it picked up the surviving passengers in lifeboats. This ship also recorded longitude and latitude of the lifeboats.

So you would think it would be easy to find the Titanic. The problem is, the ship sank in 13,000 feet of water, and it is very hard to work at that depth. A person wearing SCUBA gear has trouble going below 500 feet deep without special precautions, and 1,000 feet is about the limit. Only high-tech equipment would be able to go that deep and find the ship. That equipment simply was not available until the 1980s. Many teams searched for the ship, but a team led by Robert Ballard actually found it. Ballard’s team used a special sonar system, an underwater magnetometer and special camera equipment, called a LIBEC system. LIBEC stands for Light Behind the Camera, and makes it easier for a camera to see under water.

Ballard’s team first spotted one of Titanic’s boilers on September 1, 1985. It wasn’t until 1986 that a submarine called Alvin carried Ballard down to the wreck. Alvin was made of titanium to handle the incredible pressure at 13,000 feet. A smaller robot sub called Jason Junior (JJ) could be controlled from Alvin. JJ could get into smaller places on the ship. For six days, Ballard explored parts of the Titanic using Alvin and JJ. They explored the ship in detail and looked for many classic parts of the ship. They looked for the "Grand Staircase" and the clock, but both were gone. They found the anchors still hanging in position at the front of the ship. Although Ballard’s team saw many things, they brought nothing back to the surface, because they did not want to disturb the wreck in any way.

On the last day, Ballard left a plaque, which reads:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE SOULS WHO PERISHED WITH THE "TITANIC" APRIL 14/15, 1912. DEDICATED TO WILLIAM H. TATUM IV, WHOSE DREAM TO FIND THE "TITANIC" HAS BEEN REALIZED BY DR. ROBERT D. BALLARD. --THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF THE TITANIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC., 1986.