ments inhospitable to humans. In the summer of
1985, Woods Hole and the French National Insti-
tute of Oceanography (IFREMER) launched a joint
search for theTitanic. The French scanned the ocean
bottom with sonar (sound waves), seeking large,
metallic objects; the Americans investigated further
with two vehicles used to take video and still pho-
tographs underwater:Argoand the Acoustically Nav-
igated Geological Underwater Survey (ANGUS).
IFREMER’s goal was to find theTitanic, while Bal-
lard, partially funded by the United States Navy, was
officially testingArgoand ANGUS.
The French shipLe Suroitsearched from July 5 to
August 6 without success. The American shipKnorr
resumed the search on August 25, towingArgoand
its cameras 12,500 feet beneath the surface.
French and American scientists worked in shifts
to operateArgoand watch the video. Just before
1:00a.m.on September 1,Argobegan relaying
pictures of human-made objects; the crew iden-
tified theTitanicwhen the outline of her circu-
lar boilers became visible. Further passes with
Argoand twelve thousand color photographs
taken by ANGUS would reveal that, althoughTi-
tanic’s bow and stern were separated by about
two thousand feet, they remained upright, and
much of the ship was intact. Thousands of ob-
jects, including theTitanic’s once-elegant fur-
nishings and its passengers’ personal effects, lay
strewn around the wreck.
Impact International media outlets immedi-
ately sought news and photos of theTitanic.
Ballard and IFREMER fell into a dispute over re-
leasing the expedition’s photographs, and the
French declined to participate when Ballard re-
turned to theTitanicin July, 1986, withJ.J.(Jason
Jr.), a smaller camera-equipped robot that could
move independently while tethered to a subma-
rine.
Subsequent expeditions, including a 1987 ef-
fort by IFREMER in partnership with an Ameri-
can company unconnected to Ballard, recov-
ered many artifacts from the site. Two of the
ship’s safes were opened on live television on
October 28, 1987, in a syndicated special hosted
by Telly Savalas; the show was modeled after a
similar special featuring Al Capone’s vault hosted
by Geraldo Rivera. Although in 1985 Ballard
supported salvage efforts, he later campaigned
to leave theTitanicundisturbed as a memorial to the
dead.Further Reading
Ballard, Robert D., with Rick Archbold.The Discover y
of the Titanic.Rev. ed. Toronto: Madison Press
Books, 1995.
Ballard, Robert D., with Michael S. Sweeney.Return
to Titanic: A New Look at the World’s Most Famous
Lost Ship. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic,
2004.
Maureen Puffer-RothenbergSee also Archaeology; Robots; Science and tech-
nology.972 Titanicwreck discovery The Eighties in America
In July, 1986, Robert Ballard answers questions about his upcoming
return voyage to excavate the wreck of theTitanic. Behind him is the
ALVIN, a submersible capable of diving more than one mile below the
ocean’s surface.(AP/Wide World Photos)