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Titanic found before 1985 ?

DrPaulLee

DrPaulLee

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Messages
2,020
Hi all,
Has anyone heard the story that the wreck of the Titanic was found by the Royal Navy before the French-American expedition in 1985? The story goes that they found it using new sonar equipment but are keeping quiet for some unknown reason....

Cheers

Paul
 
I really don't get the whole fascimation with the Titanic. I mean yeah it was tragic and all but hell it is not like it is the only boat to ever sink and kills loads of passengers. Personally I would be much more interested in finding a Spanish Galleon filled with treasure.
 
In 1953, a company called Risdon Beasley Ltd, which is/was one of the world's leading deep sea salvage companies, tried to find the wreck by setting off explosives underwater (!) and using a sonar to record the echo profiles.

In 1980, Jack Grimm (a Texas millionaire who made world headlines by searching for Noah's Ark and Bigfoot) headed an expedition which used sonar. Bad weather hampered the search (isn't that always the case). He returned in 1981 and again in 1983 but returned empty-handed all three times. He did, however, publish a photo that he claimed to be one of the propellers lying on the seabed.

I've seen the photo (although for some reason no one else has or SOMEONE would have it online on one of the 8 million Titanic sites around). It could be anything and I think that Mr. Grimm was reaching. Didn't he die a couple of years ago?

As far as there being other shipwrecks...there ARE other shipwrecks but there are things about those 10 days that have all stacked up to give the whole affair a mystique:

1) A boatload of rich and famous people (think of Donald Trump, Rudy Gulliani, Brittney Spears, Bill Gates, Leona Helmsley, General Wesley Clark, and Martha Stewart all taking a pleasure cruise together).

2) A new ship that is the top of the line...largest in the world (think of all of the above people on the first voyage of a new type of ship that has any amenity you can think of).

3) This brand new ship that is extremely expensive and stuffed full of high-wattage celebs sinks killing almost all of them.

There are just too many factors that make it an event that will attract people.

Whether you hated the movie or just hate shipwrecks (who wants to dive two miles underwater to look at someone's castoffs), you have to admit that there is just too much about the disaster that warrants movies and books written about it.

I'll admit that there are many shipwrecks that are more fascinating. Empress of Ireland, Andrea Doria, Lusitania. But the Titanic has factors the others don't have...they don't all have the same scope. Empress of Ireland had the loss of life. Andrea Doria was one of the most luxurious of the day. Lusitania had celebs. But they didn't have all of it.
 
Oh, yes, dont forget the titanic was stuffed with treasure too....

But what would have happened if it had got to new amsterdam? would anyone ever remember it now?

There are many more tragic and interesting wrecks

http://www.scscv.com/SCSCV_Hunley.htm
 
Homo Aves said:
But what would have happened if it had got to new amsterdam? would anyone ever remember it now?
Click to expand...

yes we would remember it if it reached new amsterdam because it would be the first succesful time travelling ship :p
 
oh yeah, I only said that because my Father is always singing this music hall song about new amsterdam being called new york.

(the answers in a very interesting book called `Nathanels Nutmeg` by Giles Clifton)
 
I haven't heard this story before but I doubt if the reason for keeping it secret is anything more than not revealing the Navys sonar capability.
 
I dont believe it. Wouldnt it have been good PR if they `had?`
 
It was the height of the cold war, and they were testing sensitive sonar equipment used in the detectiin of covert Russian actiivities. And the documents are sealed for 50 years!
 
WORLD'S LARGEST METAPHOR HITS ICE-BERG

Titanic, representation of man's hubris, sinks in North Atlantic.

1,500 dead in symbolic tragedy.
 
There were stories some time ago that Ballard found the Titanic or at least strong eviodence for its whereabouts while searching for the downed nuclear sub Thresher as early as 1983.

The rumours are that he made enough cash to go back and find Titanic.

LD
 
Interesting rumour, but not really plausibale, as Dr.Ballard's two Titanic expeditions were paid for by the US Navy.
 
Well exactly!!!

The point being that Ballard, while in the pay of the USN and lloking for Thresher, found what he recognised to be evidence of Titantic. The secret hunt for Thresher could not be compromised by a publicised finding of Titanic. In return for his secrecy, the USN agreed to fund Ballard's Titanic expiditions. I can't remeber whether it was before or after but he found the Nautilus for them too.

LD
 
Nautilus lost? ..... When and which one.
 
That was typicaly careless, wasnt it? Losing a great big submarine...mind you, some people can lose anything, even themselves.

Speaking as a person with many years in delivery work, the amount of people who dont know where they live. I think that explains the vast majority of cases on missing people lists. People cant find their way home....
 
Well spotted!

Damn, thought it was the Nautilus. There was another US nuclear sub lost along Thresher in the 60s, one is thought to have blow itself up after a test fire of a torpedo, and the other imploded. Ballard found both. Damn. More/better research I guess.

LD
 
I think the USS Scorpion Sank as well as the thresher. One definitely imploded, it was on some sort of testing/excercise when there was a big leak whilst at some depth, the captain tried to get to the surface and got within periscope depth but did not make it and sank back down. The captain giving a remarkably controlled commentary on the Subs final descent. if I remember correctly it got past 3000 ft before it imploded...Well thats the story I was told anyway by some Old Submarine CPO.
 
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