Today in History—September 1: The Secret Story of the Titanic’s Discovery

Written by

Amy Tikkanen

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

What do the Titanic and two nuclear submarines have in common?

All three sank in the Atlantic. And all were part of a secret Cold War operation.

The story began in the 1960s, when two American nuclear subs went missing: the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion. The U.S. Navy found the wrecks—and even took photos—but couldn’t extensively survey the sites because the technology wasn’t available. And that was a problem: The navy needed to check their nuclear components and learn why the subs ended up on the ocean floor.

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Enter oceanographer Robert Ballard. He wanted to find the Titanic, and in 1982 he was looking for money to fund the expedition and build Argo, a deep-sea imaging system. The navy didn’t think he’d find the ship—but it wanted his technology. So they made a deal. The navy agreed to support the project—if Argo first surveyed the two subs. Once the submarine work was done, Ballard could use any remaining time in the expedition to search for the Titanic.

But this was the Cold War, and the U.S. Navy didn’t want to draw Soviet attention to the wrecked subs and their sensitive military technology. So the Titanic search became the cover story.

In 1984 Ballard explored the Thresher, and the following year he surveyed the Scorpion. With that finished, he rejoined the U.S.-French team searching for the Titanic. Just 12 days remained in the expedition.

Fun Fact

UNESCO has predicted that by 2050 the Titanic will disappear, destroyed by iron-eating bacteria, pollution, and missions to the wreckage.

The clock was ticking, but Ballard had learned something from the sunken subs. Both had left extensive debris fields. So instead of looking for the ship, Ballard focused on items that would have scattered on the ocean floor when the Titanic broke in two.

Eight days into the search, his team still hadn’t found anything. Then, in the early morning hours on this day in 1985, a massive boiler was spotted. Argo was sent to explore the area, and it soon discovered the Titanic’s hull. The ship had been found.

The unlikely partnership had paid off. The Thresher and Scorpion had been surveyed, the Soviets were none the wiser, Argo had proved its worth, and after some 73 years in the dark, the Titanic was back in the spotlight.