Dr Robert Ballard recalls moment he finally found Titanic wreckage
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- čas přidán 5. 04. 2023
- A renowned deep-sea explorer has recalled the moment he finally discovered the wreckage of Titanic as he returned to Belfast to view a new gallery named in his honour.
Ballard’s Quest was unveiled earlier this month at Titanic Belfast in honour of retired American Navy officer and oceanographer, Dr Robert Ballard and explores his incredible mission to locate the wreck of the famous ship 73 years after she sank.
The National Geographic Explorer-at-Large made a number of attempts to find the ship since his first expedition in October 1977 with deep sea salvage vessel Seaprobe.
While that mission ended in failure when the drilling probe pipe broke, in the years that followed, Dr Ballard didn’t give up hope and devised new technologies and search strategies to help in the quest.
Titanic now rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after its sinking on April 15, 1912. The White Star Line ocean liner grazed an iceberg on its starboard side, opening up a deadly gash and allowing the freezing waters of the North Atlantic to flood in.
She sank in just under a mere three hours and around 1,500 people lost their lives as the collapsible lifeboats were not enough to save the over 2,200 passengers on board.
Speaking to Belfast Live during his brief visit to the city ahead of the 111th anniversary of the ship's sinking, the 80-year-old said: "Like many people I first heard the story of Titanic as a small child.
"Kids are captivated because parents aren't supposed to make mistakes and this was clearly a colossal one. Every generation rediscovers the story of Titanic so it became a challenge for me to find it. I'm very competitive and I think watching others try and fail made it even more fascinating."
In 1982, Dr Ballard approached the US Navy about Argo, the new deep sea underwater robot craft he had created - and his search for Titanic. While they weren’t interested in financing a search for the lost liner, they were keen to find two of their missing submarines.
The navy agreed to finance his quest if he first searched and investigated the two sunken submarines - which he did over a period of two years.
As part of his top secret mission and with just 12 days remaining at the end of the expedition to search for Titanic, Dr Ballard finally recovered the ship more than two miles beneath the waves of the North Atlantic on 1st September 1985. It has since become one of the world’s most historic and significant discoveries.
He added: "It was down to the last second by that point but we were thinking that we were going to fail again and join the ranks of the previous failed attempts. Then boom there it was so we naturally all jumped up and down. Someone looked up at the clock and said 'she sinks in 20 minutes'.
"With that innocent comment, we realised it was totally inappropriate to be celebrating anything. I stopped the ship and we went out and hoisted the Harland & Wolff flag before having a memorial service to commemorate those who died.
"At that point, Titanic was no longer lost as we are at the exact spot and it speaks to you. But it's a graveyard and that's why I promised to never take anything even though I saw lots of things I could have picked up. I said 'that's not right' because you don't go to a graveyard with a shovel.
"It was like going back in time as though you were on the Titanic and the deeper you went into the ship, the more preserved it was. It's a museum and there's more history in the deep sea than in all the museums in the world."
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I have the utmost respect for Dr. Ballard and his respect for the site.
Had the pleasure of meeting Dr Ballard at Titanic Belfast in 2014 when he was doing a Q&A,such a charismatic gentleman !
He has class, the rest of the vultures are getting what they deserve
The Titanic took over 73 years to be found after she sank at a depth of about 12,500 feet, but her rescue ship Carpathia took over 81 years to be found after she sank at a depth of somewhere between only 500 and 600 feet. As for her ignoring ship, the SS Californian, she sank at a depth that is believed to be even deeper than the Titanic and even to this time in 2024, she still hasn't been found.
What a fascinating life, and a fascinating find.
At least now, we all have a better understanding of how and why Titanic sank, and where she lies...
Apart from the exploration and secret squirrel cover stories...
Thank You for Your Service Dr Ballard
💞✌️🙏
Those who are given a God given gift to explore do this right when done like Mr Ballard does it...with humility
Hey, if the average person knew what was behind most of governmental edictsand shenanigans,, we would never get out of bed. We don't need to know everything!
Wow😮
Dont forget Britannic
4:26 Britannic?
Are you ever going to adress the strenthing ribs found when you went with the French near the back half of the ship & said that looks like strenthing ribs what does this mean?,It means that it is the Olympic & not the Titanic.
What are you on about ? You think you make sense 🤔
Yes. I agree. As workers on the building of the ship were interviewed while still alive. Mentioned they painted over another ship the name TITANIC. OLYMPIC
Also there was no collision with an iceberg.
The Titanic and Olympic were not switched. If they were, everyone would’ve become fully aware of it back in 1912 when the disaster happened the same way they always found out when war vessels were disguised and what their purposes were during WWI.
@@Agapy8888 Their names were engraved not painted and they would’ve had to swap a lot more than just their names which definitely would’ve been impossible to do with the time they had.
I can understand the feeling that many have who regard the Titanic as a graveyard and it should not be molested. On the other hand, in not too many more years the Titanic will be nothing more than a pile of rust. I see nothing wrong with salvaging what can be salvaged. Nothing we do or don't do will be of any help to the people who were lost on the Titanic.
You don’t get it at all do you ? Did you listen to him / them at all ? 🤨