- Missing Titanic submarine LIVE:. Can bodies be retrieved after implosion? Experts weigh in
The Titanic is one of the best known ships in history after its accident in the early hours of 14-15 April 1912. More than 1,500 people lost their lives in one of the most tragic sinkings after hitting an iceberg. Only 700 were saved.
Until then, the ship was expected to be unsinkable, but it ended up being one of the most remembered accidents when it had only been sailing for a few days. It sank three hours after the alarm was raised.
Several ships had warned that there were large blocks of ice threatening the crossing. But, according to the final conclusions, the need to beat a navigation record and the confidence that the ship could not suffer any mishaps doomed crew and passengers.
The ship was supposed to arrive in New York from Southampton with maximum safety, being one of the big assurances of the White Star Line, which was in charge of building her at the time.
But it was never able to reach its destination and the ship sank without remedy. The question for years was obvious: where are the remains of the Titanic? Until 1985, after a joint mission by the United States and France, there was no answer.
How deep and where is the Titanic?
It was on September 1 of that year that it was located on the southern part of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. This area, since 1991, has been called 'Titanic Canyon' after the idea of the marine geologist Alan Ruffman. The wreck is located in the northern Atlantic Ocean, 650 kilometres southeast of the coast of Newfoundland (Canada).
The ship lies some 3,800 metres under the sea. But what is striking is that the wreckage is separated, not joined together. The distance between the stern and the bow is about 800 metres.