1985 Discovery of Titanic : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A new era in underwater exploration and scientific research began on September 1, 1985 with the discovery of the sunken luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic by investigators and crew aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Research Vessel Knorr. Titanic, found in more than 12,400 feet of water, was first photographed by the new deep-towed sonar and video camera system Argo, under development in the Institution's Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL). Additional 35-mm photographs were taken by ANGUS (Acoustically Navigated Geological Underwater Survey), another towed vehicle developed at the Institution and used on a number of major science programs since the mid-1970s.

The discovery of Titanic was a joint French-American effort begun earlier in the summer of 1985 with a cruise aboard the French research vessel Le Suroit to test France's new sonar system, SAR (System Acoustique Remorquè). Dr. Robert D. Ballard, leader of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep Submergence Laboratory and another WHOI colleague, participated in that cruise, which ended in early August. Three scientists from Institut Français De Recherche Pour L'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) joined the American cruise aboard Woods Hole’s Knorr August 15 in Ponta Delgada, Azores, for the trip across the Atlantic to the vessel's home port at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Using sonar imagery in the hunt for Titanic, the earlier French cruise had ruled out large sections in a 150-square-mile search area, allowing the Knorr cruise to concentrate on the remaining areas under a different search strategy. The first visual contact of Titanic was made about 230 miles south of Nova Scotia. Debris including one of the ship's boilers and was made by Argo just after 1:00 a.m. EST September 1, 1985. The seven-member scientific watch that saw the first images included four Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution personnel, two French scientists, and a U.S. Navy officer and was led by Jean-Louis Michel (IFREMER), co-chief scientist with Dr. Ballard of the expedition. Video filming from Argo and 35-mm filming from ANGUS were conducted throughout the remaining four days of the voyage.

Research vessel Knorr returned to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on September 9, 1985, to a joyous celebration. Thousands, including media organizations from around the world, filled the dock and surrounding waterfront areas to welcome the crew home. A press conference followed in the Institution’s nearby Redfield Auditorium, and several days later simultaneous press conferences were held in Washington, DC, and Paris.

"We are obviously very pleased and excited to have found the Titanic," WHOI Geologist and Expedition leader Robert Ballard reported to colleagues at the Institution during the voyage by high seas radio. "But we are also very aware of the significance of the Titanic as a maritime disaster." After the elation of the discovery, the remembrance of the tragedy struck home, and some of those aboard Knorr held a brief memorial service on the ship's fantail for those lost in the 1912 disaster. The discovery had been made at almost the same hour that Titanic sank beneath the waves 73 years earlier.

For the three organizations that partnered in the discovery, it proved the capabilities of new camera and sonar systems. Both Argo and SAR were undergoing sea trials and were not yet in final form. The primary mission of both French and American cruises was to conduct deep-water engineering tests, and finding Titanic was a secondary but dramatic bonus. The tests were significant advances in the development of the Argo/Jason system at WHOI for the US ocean research community, but were lost in the media attention given to the wreck’s discovery.

Argo, designed for large-area imaging of the ocean floor, returned to sea in December 1985 for its first scientific application following the successful test cruise to Titanic. Dr. Robert Ballard, who studied the mountains beneath the sea known as the mid-ocean ridge system, and his colleagues returned to sea and surveyed a 120-mile section of the East Pacific Rise, a submarine mountain range between San Diego and Manzanillo, Mexico. The East Pacific Rise is part of the 45,000-mile mid-ocean ridge, the world's largest geological feature covering some 23 percent of the planet’s surface. Since the first major efforts to study this system began in 1973, scientists had seen only some 50 miles of the ridge system, about one-half of one percent. The Argo survey in December 1985 nearly equaled the previous twelve years of work in just 20 days. Approximately 170 hours of videotape of the East Pacific Rise were taken during the cruise, confirming Argo's tremendous imaging capabilities and value to ocean exploration.

"Finding the Titanic is a dramatic demonstration of our present capability to explore the ocean depths for scientific purposes," Institution Director John H. Steele said of the Titanic discovery in 1985. "It has taken years of work by dedicated engineers and will prove its value to science and the nation in the years ahead."