Divers Exploring The Titanic For The First Time In 14 Years Made An Unanticipated Discovery

The crew of the Limiting Factor mini-sub is descending far below the waves into the depths of the Atlantic. As the sub finally reaches the seabed, the men aboard see something that no one has witnessed first-hand for 14 years. It’s the rusting wreck of the RMS Titanic. But as the divers investigate the remains of the Titanic, they come across a vision that sends shivers down their spines.

A century after the event

The Titanic still has the power to shock and move – even a century on after her sinking. But the doomed vessel was once more than just a wreck. The Titanic was actually launched to considerable fanfare when she set off from Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. She was a masterpiece of engineering, and tickets for that maiden voyage were highly sought after.

Unforeseen tragedy

The ship’s first port of call was Cherbourg on the northern coast of France – a short hop across the English Channel. From there, she sailed on to what was then Queenstown – now Cobh – in Ireland before setting off on a westward course to New York City. But as midnight approached three days later, tragedy struck. An iceberg ripped along the starboard of the ship – putting the Titanic and all of her passengers in real peril.

Sudden impact

That impact didn’t actually breach the hull, but it did bend the ship’s steel plates out of shape. Gaps appeared, then, and icy Atlantic water began to pour in. If only four of the Titanic’s compartments had been flooded, then the captain and crew would have been able to cope. When five sections became filled with water, though, that was the beginning of the end for the so-called “unsinkable” boat.

Matter of hours

So, just a couple of hours after the collision with the iceberg, the Titanic plunged below the waves. There were 2,224 souls aboard, and over 1,500 of those men, women and children ultimately lost their lives in the freezing sea. Around 1,000 people were still aboard the liner as she dropped 12,500 feet to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Refocusing on what happened

But more than a century later, the Limiting Factor mini-sub traveled almost two and a half miles to the wreck of the Titanic. And what the crew discovered down in the depths brought the tragedy into even sharper focus.

Putting it all into perspective

The divers’ find is even sadder when you consider how magnificent the Titanic had been. The Titanic was the second of three Olympic liners to be constructed. She had arrived before the not very originally named Olympic and was followed by the Britannic. All were part of the White Star Line’s fleet. And the reason why they were built? Well, good old-fashioned business rivalry.

A new level of opulence

White Star Line’s competitors had been stealing a march on the company, and boss J. Bruce Ismay had to find a way to keep up. He decided, then, that the firm’s future lay not in faster ships – but bigger ones. And the Olympic-class behemoths would not only be the largest passenger ships on the planet, but they’d also be the most extravagantly opulent – for the first-class passengers, anyway.

Two-year process

Construction of the Titanic herself started in March 1909 at the Harland and Wolf shipyard in Belfast. But it wasn’t an overnight job in the least! From beginning to end, the whole process took two years. Even though Harland and Wolf had been building ships for the White Star Line for more than four decades, the Olympic vessels were the largest ever made at that point. That meant required massive feats of engineering.

Adding it all up

The hull of the Titanic alone had 2,000 steel plates, for instance. These were each up to six feet across, 30 feet long – and as much as three tons apiece. Shocked? Well, you will be by this next fact. An astonishing three million rivets held those steel plates in place. And building the ship was also very dangerous. Eight workers lost their lives during her construction, while another 246 ended up injured.

Highest class

What awaited the first-class passengers, though, was nothing short of sheer luxury. Those lucky folks could enjoy the gym or take a dip in a swimming pool or a Turkish bath. In the Café Parisien, they could also dine on roast duckling, pâté de foie gras and peaches in Chartreuse jelly. Swanky.

Not too shabby

And while third-class passengers obviously didn’t get to indulge in these pleasures, conditions were still better for them on the Titanic than on other shipping lines of the day. There were common rooms for leisure, for example, and children could play on the poop deck. Third-class cabins accommodating two to six passengers were also equipped with electricity, heating and running water. We may take those things for granted on a cruise now, but back then they were relative novelties.

Lack of lifeboats

Mind you, the Titanic was no ordinary boat. She was over 880 feet from bow to stern, 175 feet from her bottom to the highest points of her funnels and over 90 feet across her beam. She also possessed a displacement of an astonishing 52,310 tons, with 29 boilers powering the engines that drove the four propellers. Ominously, though, the Titanic held only 20 lifeboats with a total capacity of 1,178 people. And as we’ve previously mentioned, there were 2,224 on board when the ship hit the iceberg.

Making the decision

Even worse, the Titanic actually had enough launching gear for 64 wooden lifeboats. These could have carried 4,000 people in total – more than the maximum number of passengers and crew, which came in at 3,547. But the White Star Line made the fateful decision that 20 lifeboats were enough.

Focusing on the shortcomings

Did the Titanic break the rules? Well, no! British maritime rules were that any ship of over 10,000 tons – such as the Titanic – needed only carry 16 lifeboats with a total capacity of 990. Naturally, inquiries after the disaster would focus on the shortcomings of this number.

Up to code

In any case, RMS Titanic was up to code when her launch came on May 31, 1911. That grand event was watched by a crowd of 100,000, who witnessed the huge vessel travel down a slipway that had been lubricated with 22 tons of animal fat and soap. And in just 62 seconds, the great ship slid into the River Lagan. From that moment, the Titanic became the largest constructed object floating on water anywhere in the world. Over a century later, a 2019 dive would find the chilling sight of the ship disintegrating between the waves – hauntingly turning to rust and then to dust.

A bad omen

Although the ship’s launch was cause for great celebration, tragedy haunted the event. Shipwright James Dobbin was one of the men knocking away the huge timbers that supported the ship before she entered the water. And in the process, one of the massive planks fell on Dobbin. He sadly died of his injuries two days later, and with hindsight, it’s all too easy to interpret this as an extremely bad omen.

The kitchen had it's own funnel

Even once the hull of the Titanic was in the water, however, there was still much work to do. The next year was spent in finishing the interior and attaching various bits of the superstructure, including fitting the ship’s distinctive set of four funnels. Only three of those emitted fumes from the engines, though; the other helped provide ventilation for the kitchens.

Sea trials

Then, following the fitting out, the Titanic went through a series of sea trials that began on April 2, 1912. At this point, there were only eight days to go before the liner was due to embark on her maiden voyage from Southampton. And thankfully for all concerned, the ship was judged to be fully ocean-worthy after she had been put through her paces in the Irish Sea.

Setting sail

So, the Titanic set sail from Southampton, stopping briefly at Cherbourg and Queenstown on her first voyage to America’s east coast. The White Star Line’s most senior captain, Edward Smith, took charge of the new ship and her crew of 885 – only 23 of whom were women. Sixty-six of the employees worked on deck, while 325 toiled below as engineers and stokers.

It takes a whole team

And a total of 494 crew were aboard to serve the passengers in one way or another – almost enough to run a small city! There were fishmongers, chefs, butchers, bakers and waiters to feed the passengers. Elsewhere, dishwashers, laundrymen, bed-makers and cleaners kept everything spick and span, while a printer published a daily newspaper, the Atlantic Daily Bulletin. There were eight musicians on board, too.

Not at max capacity

As for the passengers, 709 traveled third class – also known as steerage – while 284 were in second class and 324 enjoyed the opulence of first class. There were 896 men among the passengers along with 447 women and 107 children – most of whom were in steerage. But while the Titanic could carry up to 2,453 people, only 1,317 were aboard for that maiden voyage.

Publicity stunt?

Really? Those low numbers seem strange – especially as the ship had enjoyed a huge amount of publicity. And in normal circumstances, the White Star Line would have expected to fill such a vessel – especially on her first crossing. But there’s a good explanation. There had been a major coal strike in the U.K., you see. This had played havoc with travel arrangements and caused many to reschedule their plans.

Big money on board

Among those who did climb on board the Titanic, though, were some extremely well-to-do individuals. For starters, there was the super-rich American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim, who came with his butler, chauffeur, mistress Léontine Aubart and her maid. Then there was the fabulously wealthy John Jacob Astor IV and his wife, Madeleine. Sadly, Guggenheim, his butler and his chauffeur all perished after the iceberg strike, as did Astor.

Retail royalty

Isidor Straus, owner of Macy’s department store, and his wife, Ida, were also both aboard, with neither surviving the disaster. Canadian entrepreneur and politician Harry Molson lost his life, too, as a result of the ship’s fate. However, Ismay – who presumably had some say in the numbers of lifeboats aboard the liner – ultimately survived the sinking.

Change of plans

Yes, Ismay boarded the last lifeboat to be launched from the vessel’s starboard side. Later, many accused him of cowardice. The ship’s designer, Thomas Andrews, was definitely not so lucky. After helping others escape, he, too, perished in the sinking. But perhaps the most fortunate was J.P. Morgan – the ultimate owner of White Star. He was set to be one of the passengers on the Titanic’s maiden voyage, but he had changed his plans at the last minute.

The real victims

Of course, most of those who died were neither rich nor famous, as the fatal iceberg had no concern for social class or money. That frozen menace had first been spotted by crewman Frederick Fleet at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912. And while there were desperate attempts to steer the ship away, there was too little time to change course – meaning the Titanic would plow straight into the ice.

The first omen

The first sign that the ship was doomed came with the lowering of the bows. This put the Titanic at an angle, which worsened the flow of water through her hull. Chaos then erupted on the stricken liner, with poorly trained crewmen launching lifeboats when they had only been partially loaded. To make matters even worse, many of the steerage passengers were trapped below deck.

In just ten minutes

And at around 2:10 a.m. on April 15, the Titanic had started to sink increasingly quickly. Within just ten minutes, the stern – the last part of the vessel above the surface – plunged beneath the waves. Those poor people who had been clinging to the rear end were cast into the icy waters, leaving them to die from exposure.

Previously unsinkable

But while this disaster spelled the end of the “unsinkable” Titanic, that was far from the end of her story. Understandably, the horrified public demanded answers as to how this unthinkable tragedy could have happened, and inquiries in both Britain and the U.S. came up with some conclusions. There had been too few lifeboats, for example. It was also claimed that Captain Smith – who had died in the sinking – had paid too little attention to iceberg warnings. Oh, and the liner herself? She’d apparently been cruising too quickly.

Raising money for the search

Whatever the reason, though, the Titanic herself was completely lost. Yes, her location beneath the waves was a mystery. Soon after she had sunk, relatives of some of the rich casualties raised money to look for the wreck. This plan was doomed to fail, as the diving technology of the day could not reach anywhere near the depths where the vessel lay. Another gruesome suggestion was to drop dynamite on the ship, forcing bodies to rise to the surface.

Not very well-thought-out

This idea was entirely impractical, of course, as no one actually knew where the remains of the Titanic were! Other hare-brained schemes included raising the wreck with huge magnets or bringing her to the surface with balloons. But perhaps the maddest plan was proposed in the 1970s. This suggestion was to cram the hull with ping-pong balls to float the broken vessel up to the surface. Yes, you read that right.

70 years later

In the end, more than 70 years passed before a French-American team found the wreck using a remotely controlled sub called Argo. Further manned subs visited the Titanic in the years that followed, too, although the last such expedition came in 2005.

Staggering depths

And that brings us back to the crew of the mini-submarine Limiting Factor. You’ll remember that we last encountered them at a depth of 12,500 feet, where they were gazing at the mangled remains of the Titanic. The men were able to take some stunning images, too, using the high-tech 4K cameras aboard their vessel.

Intrepid voyagers

Victor Vescovo, diver and boss of Caladan Oceanic, led this August 2019 expedition – the first of its kind for nearly a decade and a half. Vescovo was also one of the folks that took part in the five dives that Limiting Factor made. Other team members included Titanic history expert Parks Stephenson and lead planner Rob McCallum. And what the intrepid voyagers ultimately found at the wreck was deeply shocking.

Disintegrating beneath the waves

You see, the Titanic is disappearing all too quickly. And Patrick Lahey – expedition member and president of Limiting Factor owner Triton Submarines – revealed as much in a press release from Triton. Lahey explained, “The most fascinating aspect [of the expedition] was seeing how the Titanic is being consumed by the ocean and returning to its elemental form while providing refuge for a remarkably diverse number of animals.”

What the latest footage reveals

Much has vanished, too. One famous artifact known as the “captain’s bathtub” is no longer to be seen at the site. But what is left of the ship – as well as the thriving undersea wildlife that lives on the wreck – has been stunningly captured in the 4K footage the divers were able to shoot.

Returning to nature

Stephenson also emphasized the state of the vessel when he told the BBC in 2019, “[The] Titanic is returning to nature.” Powerful ocean currents, the corrosive action of saltwater and bacteria that eat metal are all contributing to the disappearance of the ship’s wreck.

Slowly eating away

But as the Titanic has sat in the ocean for over a century, her disintegration should come as no surprise. Expedition scientist Clare Fitzsimmons added, “There are microbes on the shipwreck that are eating away the iron of the wreck itself [and] creating ‘rusticle’ structures, which is a much weaker form of the metal.”

Soon will be no more

Sadly, rusticles turn to dust when disturbed, putting the Titanic in danger of eventually disappearing. It appears, then, that the ship – along with those who lost their lives – is gradually breaking up into the sea she sank in over a century ago.