The wreck of the Titanic is found

A joint US-French expedition led by Robert Ballard located the Titanic wreck in the North Atlantic. The ship had broken in two, with the sections far apart on the seabed.

Context

Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg, and for decades its resting place was uncertain. Ballard's team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution worked with the French institute IFREMER aboard the research ship Knorr and searched with the towed camera sled Argo.

The wreck was spotted on the early morning of September 1, 1985, when Argo's cameras showed debris and then a boiler. It lies roughly 600 kilometers (about 370 miles) southeast of Newfoundland, at a depth of around 3,800 meters (about 12,500 feet).

The ship lies in two main sections, the bow and stern, separated by a debris field a few hundred meters wide. This confirmed survivor accounts that the hull broke apart during the sinking, which had been doubted for years.

Ballard's team returned in 1986 with the submersible Alvin and the small robot Jason Jr. to inspect the wreck. Later expeditions raised thousands of artifacts, and the site is now protected under international agreements and national law.

The expedition's success also showed the value of deep-sea robotics, and its methods shaped later ocean exploration. The site lies in international waters, which complicates its protection.