Titanic exploratory dive reveals discovery, decay and new photos: NPR

New images of the Titanic show that part of the bow railing has broken off.

RMS Titanic, Inc.

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RMS Titanic, Inc.

More than a century after the Titanic sank, the wreck continues to yield new discoveries for researchers.

This summer, RMS Titanic, Inc. — the wreck salvage company — made its first unmanned dive to the site in 14 years. The expedition, equipped with high-resolution cameras and scanning equipment, took more than two million photographs of the Titanic.

The aim was to image the wreck in the highest possible quality and to find artefacts for future salvage expeditions.

James Penca is a researcher with the company who joined the nearly month-long expedition earlier this summer. He spoke with All things considered host Scott Detrow on the finds – and the losses – the team uncovered.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and clarity.

Interview highlights

Scott Detrow: Your group is the official company that researches and preserves artifacts from the Titanic. And this isn’t the group’s first expedition, they’ve been there several times. What was special about this particular recent mission?

James Penca: We haven’t been to the wreck since 2010. It’s been 14 years. So 14 years of technology, as we all know, is pretty advanced compared to what we had in 2010. What we were able to bring back there, the cameras and the scanners, would make the 2010 expedition look like child’s play in terms of what we were able to learn from the wreck.

To extract: How did that feel? What was that moment like for you when you first saw the wreck?

Penca: I have been a diehard Titanic fan since I was six years old, and it has always amazed me that I was so close to the wreck. When I saw the first images of the ship on a screen, it was emotional. There were tears in the room for many of us, even those who had been there before.

To extract: Let’s talk about some of the discoveries we made on this trip. I understand there were some exciting ones and some bittersweet ones. Let’s start with the exciting ones.

A virtual reconstruction of the statue of Diana of Versailles on the mantelpiece in a first-class lounge.

Titanic: Honor and Glory

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Titanic: Honor and Glory

Penca: On this expedition, we were not salvaging, but we were looking for artifacts for future salvage. And there was one artifact at the top of our list. It was a bronze statue, about two feet high, known as the Diana of Versailles. This statue was located in the first class lounge on board the Titanic, and this statue was the centerpiece of that elegant room. The problem with this artifact is that it has only been photographed once, in 1986. So, to find this statue would be one of the great achievements of this expedition for us, but the chance of finding it, it really is a needle in a haystack two and a half miles under water in pitch black darkness. After much trial and error, we were able to find Diana and take her first photographs in 38 years, and we found her with only a few hours left in the expedition.

A new photo of the statue of Diana of Versailles aboard the Titanic.

RMS Titanic, Inc

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RMS Titanic, Inc

To extract: So on the one hand, there are striking aspects of the wreck that have been found and, shockingly, they are still the same. But on the other hand, there was some evidence that you collected that some iconic aspects of the ship may be collapsing.

Penca: Yeah, everybody knows the famous James Cameron movie, the scene “I’m flying,” you know, “I’m the king of the world.” (That) scene all took place on the iconic bow of the Titanic, right at the tip of the ship. When we got to the wreck last month, we discovered that the port side railing had fallen off. That’s perfectly normal, different parts of the railing are getting weaker. But to have such a striking and much photographed and iconic railing now resting on the seabed is a big change. The Titanic will literally never look the same again.

To extract: There have been many shipwrecks throughout history. There have been many high-profile tragedies. There have been many of these things that have become big box office hits. But there is something different about Titanic. What do you think it is that captures people’s imaginations in this way, yours or others?

Penca: You know, we’re storytellers. We love a good story. And I would compare the life and loss of the Titanic to any great story, any Hollywood movie, any great novel, any war story. Every element of it was lined up as if it were written for a Hollywood movie. It’s really too good to be true. But the more you look into the Titanic, the truer it becomes.