Just Finished Reading: The Discovery of the Titanic by Dr Robert D Ballard (FP: 1987)

No one would have believed in April 1912 that after the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic that it would ever be seen again. After all when it slipped beneath the waves that fateful night it had 2 miles of water beneath it before striking the muddy bottom. It wasn’t until many decades later that the technology had developed enough to even contemplate a return to the greatest of all shipwrecks.

But even with the technology it was to be no easy feat. First they had the find the wreck itself which proved to be much more difficult than first thought – especially as the last known position given by the stricken liner was guesswork as much as anything else. The first expedition tried and failed in its attempt using sophisticated sonar to map the ocean floor. But Bob Ballard had other ideas – his team would visually survey the ocean floor using the latest in video surveillance drones. The first team (largely French) swept the area and, despite some tantalising contacts, came up empty. The second team, mostly American, extended the area and finally had something to report and on September 1st 1985 announced to the waiting world that they had discovered the last resting place of the world’s greatest maritime legend.

Of course that wasn’t the end of things. After press conferences and TV spots the work behind the scenes went ahead and a second more detailed expedition was planned for the following year. Using state of the art and often completely experimental equipment the new team managed to extensively film, photograph and experience first-hand the majesty of the Titanic which (surprisingly to me at least) was largely intact with gleaming brass work, intact railings and even woodwork looking almost as new as the day she sailed. After a week on site Ballard’s team left some plaques commemorating the sinking and left the site largely undisturbed.

This was yet another of those books that I bought years previously, skimmed the text, looked at the many pictures and put the one side to forget about until recently. Although the technology has dated a great deal – photographs of the ships computers made me snigger – the results of the dives are quite staggering. Many of the photographs taken at the bottom of the ocean are reproduced here and provide a fascinating insight to what happened that night. Ballard had hope to confirm (or deny) the gash down the hull theory but discovered to everyone’s irritation that the front of the ship (now in two pieces) was too deeply buried in mud to answer that all absorbing question one way or another. Also having a much clearer idea of exactly where she sank, and the probable position of other near-by vessels (particularly the Carpathia and the Californian) Ballard was able to speculate on the Californian captain’s denial that he was in easy striking distance of Titanic and could, if he had acted correctly, have saved hundreds of more lives.

Overall this was an interesting book rather than a gripping one – but more than made up for this with its wealth of photographs and the author’s style of writing which was very open and accessible. Definitely recommended for any Titanic fans – or anyone interested in marine archaeology in general and the discovery of wrecked ships in particular.