For 73 long years it was not possible to determine exactly where the Titanic had foundered, let alone the exact position of the wreck. There were only vague notions that the accident must have occurred 380 km off Newfoundland. The first expeditions were launched in 1963, but they mostly failed due to a lack of funding. At almost 4000 metres depth it was only possible to work using special submarines which made the search an extremely expensive undertaking.

In 1980 the oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard persuaded the American navy to develop an underwater search system together with his institute. Five years later they were finally ready. On the night of September 1, 1985 the screen of an unmanned submarine showed the first pictures of the wreck of the Titanic. Using the sonar sled Argo which was towed across the ocean floor by a cable, around 20,000 pictures were taken of the wreck over four days: faint images of boilers, steel plates, crockery and shoes.

The pictures, which were printed all around the world as the first documentation of the sunken Titanic, confirmed the theory that the huge body of the ship had split into two parts. While the bow was relatively well preserved the stern seemed to have been badly damaged when it crashed onto the ocean floor. Debris was scattered across the 600 metres separating the bow and the stern. In fear of pillagers, the expedition team initially kept the exact position of the wreck secret.

One year later Ballard and two colleagues explored the remains of the ocean giant in a special deep-diving submersible. In the pitch black surroundings, their little underwater vessel swam around the enormous wreck. The team carried out a total of eleven deep sea expeditions of four hours each. This famous expedition was soon followed by further investigations by other researchers whose aim was not only to examine the wreck: many precious objects belonging to the Titanic passengers were now recovered. Today, anyone can dive down to the wreck – provided they are willing for pay around 30,000 euros for the privilege.