Titanic wreck: ship engineering and the search of 1985
The Titanic wreck was located in 1985 by following a trail of debris across the seabed. The search joined French sonar work with American underwater imaging, eventually identifying a boiler more than 12,400 feet below the surface. The ship had been built in Belfast as part of a new generation of large Atlantic liners. Its construction and equipment later became central to the 1912 inquiry into its loss. The two investigations examined the vessel through very different technologies: shipboard systems and wireless in 1912, deep-towed cameras and sonar in 1985.
White Star Line's managing director, J. Bruce Ismay, and shipbuilder Lord Pirrie planned three large liners in 1907. They emphasized comfort and scale in competition with other Atlantic companies. Olympic entered construction in December 1908, followed by Titanic in March 1909. Harland & Wolff enlarged its Belfast building facilities for the work, and White Star extended its New York pier. Titanic's hull was launched on May 31, 1911. Fitting out continued afterward, adding machinery, accommodations, electrical equipment, and elaborate public rooms.
The vessel was 883 feet long and 92 feet wide, with a double bottom and sixteen watertight compartments. Doors in the engine and boiler spaces could be closed from the bridge. The ship's electrical and communications systems included a Marconi installation on the Boat Deck, powered by a five-kilowatt motor generator. Two complete sets of wireless apparatus drew power from the ship's dynamos. An independent storage battery and coil provided emergency equipment. Two operators maintained the service, allowing messages to be sent and received throughout the day and night.
Titanic left Southampton on April 10, 1912, called at Cherbourg, and departed Queenstown the following day for New York. Ice reports reached the ship during the Atlantic crossing. On the night of April 14, Charles Lightoller handed the watch to William Murdoch at ten o'clock, warning him that the vessel was in a region where ice had been reported. Shortly before 11:40 p.m., a lookout sounded three gong strokes and telephoned the bridge. Murdoch ordered the helm hard-a-starboard, and the ship's bow began turning toward port.
The turn did not avoid the iceberg. The collision damaged the starboard side below the waterline. Watertight doors were closed from the bridge, pumps were started, and wireless messages requested assistance. The lifeboat installation comprised two emergency boats, fourteen lifeboats, and four collapsibles, with a combined capacity of 1,178 people. This exceeded the legal requirement but remained below the number aboard. The British inquiry found that the ship had met the applicable regulations when leaving Queenstown, while also finding the arrangements for manning and launching the boats insufficient.
The inquiry also examined navigation and emergency preparation. It found that the ship had followed the usual southern route for the season, with the captain retaining discretion to depart from it when necessary. Ice messages had not led to a reduction in speed. The ship was traveling at about twenty-two knots, which the court considered excessive in the circumstances. No boat drill had been held during the voyage. The court's conclusions separated compliance with existing equipment rules from the shortcomings of operating decisions and emergency arrangements.
The search for the Titanic wreck in 1985 began with Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel narrowing the likely area to 100 square miles. The French vessel Le Suroit started work on July 1, towing the SAR sonar system in overlapping tracks. Rough weather complicated the month-long operation. Although it found no wreck, the survey eliminated more than three-quarters of the search area. Three French scientists subsequently joined the research vessel Knorr for the next stage, reaching the remaining search area on August 22.
Knorr had twelve days available. The team used the ANGUS imaging system and the new Argo camera-and-sonar vehicle to look for scattered material, rather than seeking the hull as a single large target. Currents had dispersed debris across the seafloor. Following that trail led to the Titanic wreck, confirmed by the boiler image shortly after one in the morning on September 1. The team continued recording through the remaining four days, using Argo video and ANGUS photography before returning to Woods Hole.
Both SAR and Argo were still undergoing engineering trials. Locating the Titanic wreck demonstrated their ability to investigate deep-water sites. Argo returned to sea in December 1985 for scientific work on the East Pacific Rise, surveying a 120-mile section of the submarine mountain system. The equipment developed for observing the ocean floor could be used for archaeology and geology. The 1985 expedition had combined a historical search with practical tests of instruments that continued working after the discovery attracted worldwide attention.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1985 discovery of RMS Titanic — www.whoi.edu
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, History of RMS Titanic — www.whoi.edu
- British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912, Findings of the Court, Titanic Inquiry Project transcription — www.titanicinquiry.org
- British Wreck Commissioner’s Inquiry, 1912, The Collision, Titanic Inquiry Project transcription — www.titanicinquiry.org