In the Bookcase

4/23/2012

Discovering the Titanic's wreck---73 years later.

For 73 years, the Titanic sat at the bottom of the ocean. Decaying, rusting, home to all sorts of ocean life, unseen by humans.

Numerous attempts had been tried throughout the passing decades to find the Titanic---all failures. Scientists, men with highest knowledge of shipwrecks, could not find the lost ship. It had to be somewhere at the bottom of the ocean in the area of the Titanic's last known location, and it was bound to be located one day. That day was September 1, 1984.

Dr. Robert Ballard had been given 2 weeks to use special equipment that he would need to find the Titanic's location. It was an impossible task, comparing how other people had gone to sea for months at a time, looking for the Titanic, and always came back without her. Only the warmest parts of the year could be used for searching the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, so it was a once-a-year effort for anyone who wanted to attempt at it. Expeditions had been led several different years. But September 1, 1985 was the day that the Titanic was meant to be found.

Finding the Titanic's wreck.

The once-elite ship now rests 2.5 miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. With her are the graves of over 1,500 people.

Exploring the Titanic's bow section.

The bow & stern sections of the ship (front & back) are separated from each other, with half a mile of seabed laying in between them. The ship is in two halves, and everything that was inside is now laying in the muddy ocean bottom. Since 1985, there have been dozens of expeditions to the Titanic, now that the world knows where she sits. Some people are spectators, only wanting to see the condition of the splendorous ship, now that she has been there for 100 years. Other people have taken objects from the wreckage to sell them---a highly disapproved of trade. Regardless, it has brought several items up to the surface, so that we can see those objects which have been buried all this time. Some of these artifacts are so well preserved, to have been in seawater for decades! Most of the items are now in public exhibitions or museums.

China dishes salvaged from the Titanic.

A lady's purse from the Titanic's wreck.

There are still so many random objects strewn across the ocean floor. The entire wreckage spans 15 square miles!

Dollar bills salvaged from the Titanic's wreck.

Of the various pocketwatches and clocks that have been located on the Titanic's wreck, there is to be found something of great importance. These timepieces were not waterproof, of course, so the very instant that the water engulfed an object like a clock, its hands stopped moving. The hour hand and the minute hand were then permanately fixated on that exact time. 2:20am. For different watches and clocks, the time is perhaps a few minutes off, depending on when the water arrived at the ascending decks of the ship. It's an odd fact to think that time literally stopped while the Titanic was sinking, as the people aboard were dying.

A pocketwatch from the Titanic---stopped at 2:28am.

The Titanic is quite literally a time capsule of the Edwardian era, buried at the bottom of the ocean.


1 comment:

  1. 15 square miles???? I had no idea! Can you imagine what is down there? did you know that they are supposed to repaint it??? How is that possible? I cant imagine. I think it should be untouched, every bit of it. Leave it where it is & not disturb it any longer. I do believe they are keeping it under water though. hmmmm..... good posts!

    ReplyDelete