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The North Atlantic: April 14th
1912, 11:40 pm
Fred Fleet stamped his feet
to get some warmth back into his legs. He looked over at his crewmate
Reginald Lee and smiled; only twenty more minutes of lookout duty before
they went off watch at midnight. Despite the bitter cold, Fred liked it
up here in the crow’s nest. He savored the hypnotic swishing sound of
the bow wave as this giant cleaved the water with her prow, and marveled
at how the star speckled night sky was reflected in the mirror-flat
sea. It felt as if this monster of a ship, barreling along at 20 knots,
was flying.
Fred peered ahead at the faint haze they had
spotted a few minutes earlier. A pair of binoculars would be helpful to
make out if it were ice. But, in the rush to get this brand new ship to
leave port on schedule, someone had misplaced them. Suddenly his blood
went cold as an indefinite white shadow in the approaching mist suddenly
took on a solid and menacing form. Years at sea taught him the
importance of remaining calm in an emergency. By reflex he sounded the
warning bell three times, picked up the phone to the bridge and calmly
spoke to the sixth officer James Moody, “ Iceberg right ahead.” “Thank
you,” acknowledged Moody just as calmly.
The iceberg, about
60 feet high, was 500 yards dead ahead. At this speed, it would take
only 43 seconds to close that distance. Fred and Reginald braced
themselves for the impending impact. They heard the powerful engines
reversing and observed the bow turning ever so slowly to port. But it
wasn’t enough. The steamship struck the rock-hard ‘berg, resulting in a
gashing blow along her starboard side. The lookouts, pitched about in
the crow’s nest, saw dislodged blocks of ice tumble onto the forward
Well Deck. A few minutes later, the ship coasted to a stop. Fred and
Reginald looked at the frigid dark water below them and wondered if they
would be enjoying a warm bunk tonight or manning a lifeboat? But how
could they even think the ship would go down! She was, after all, the
greatest and mightiest ship ever built – the “unsinkable” Titanic.
Then, ever so
slowly, the bow began to settle. Water cascaded through a long ragged
gash below the waterline that ran almost one-third of her 882 foot
length. Two hours and forty minutes later, she was plunging towards the
sea floor over two miles below.
Titanic. Her
very name symbolizes both the power of technology and the tragedy of
human arrogance. The largest ship of her time, she represented the
unprecedented rapid and astounding feats of turn of the 20th
century technological innovation. Massive at over 52,000 tons, she was
as tall as an eleven-story building and stretched over a sixth of a mile
in length. Her coal-fired steam engines delivered 50,000 horsepower to
drive her at over 20 knots. The opulence of her accommodations, even in
third-class, was beyond anything other ships of the time could boast and
was a reflection of Anglo-American society. Her upper decks of
promenades, lounges, ball rooms, and first class staterooms pampered and
cocooned the rich and privileged; the middle second class decks berthed
the comfortably well-off professors, doctors, clerks, and musicians.
And down in the lower reaches, amongst the cargo holds, resided steerage
passengers sharing third-class cabins. These were the poor laborers and
immigrant families hoping to make a new life in America. Over 2000
people were aboard when she sailed from Ireland on April 11th,
but by dawn on April 15th, only 705 survivors were plucked
from the icy Atlantic. Fred Fleet and Reginald Lee were among them.
In the decades following that “night to remember,” many stories, songs,
books, and even movies have told and retold the events of that fateful
voyage. Some stories were factual; others mixed fact with fiction and
even the fantastic. Some stirred the reader with accounts of raising
the Titanic and having her complete the final leg of her voyage
to New York. Some even depicted subsea adventurers encountering the
ghosts of those who died aboard wandering her decks. The Titanic,
like the ancient city of Troy, the Devil’s Triangle, and the sunken
Atlantis, had become a legend lost in time. These kinds of lost legends
pull at us like powerful magnets crying out to be discovered.
The first known plan to locate the wreck of
the Titanic occurred only five days after the ship had sunk.
One of the notable passengers on board was the wealthy
47-year-old John Jacob Astor, accompanied by his new pregnant
eighteen-year-old wife, Madeline. These poor souls
presumably went down with the ship. Hearing
the news, John’s son Vincent wanted to recover his father’s body. He
contemplated finding the wreck and then lowering dynamite charges to
blow a passage way into his father’s first class stateroom to retrieve
the corpse. The plan was shelved when the remains of Astor was
identified among the bodies floating on the sea. In the following year
(1913), other well-to-do families hired a salvage company to see if the
wreck could be raised, but the firm wisely determined it would be
impossible to do so.
Finding and salvaging the Titanic was considered difficult, if
not impossible, primarily because of its remote location in the North
Atlantic and its extreme depth. A new type of technology would need to
be developed before any serious attempt to locate it, let alone salvage
it, would even be feasible. In 1953, the British marine salvage firm
Risdon Beasley Ltd., armed with acoustic technology developed for
geophysical surveys of the seabed, voyaged out to the Titanic’s
last known location. They detonated underwater explosives in order to
create a series of low frequency acoustic pulses reasoning that if the
sound pulses struck the Titanic’s enormous hulk, they would
“bounce” back towards the salvage vessel’s hydrophones revealing her
location on the sea floor. But even seasoned professionals with good
gear can be beaten by the sea, and the ship remained undiscovered.
The fact that simply locating the Titanic’s
resting place would be a daunting endeavor did not deter imaginative
“optimists” from devising far-fetched schemes to raise her. One plan
called for nylon balloons to be attached to the hull and filled with air
to lift her off the bottom and float her to the surface. Another
proposed to freeze the water around her with liquid nitrogen, which
would make her float. Another poorly thought-out scheme wanted to pump
180,000 tons of molten wax down into her hull. Still another called for
a submarine outfitted with electromagnets to clamp onto the massive hull
and raise her to the surface. But perhaps the most novel plan of all
was to fill the Titanic with thousands of ping-pong balls in
order to lift her. However, realists knew that it would take a well
thought-out expedition with experienced crew, the right state-of-the-art
technology, and lots of solid financing to even think one had a fighting
chance to find this ship in over 12,000 feet of water. The next attempt
to discover her didn’t happen until 1980.
Jack Grimm, a Texas oilman and adventurer, who
had previously organized expeditions to find the Loch Ness Monster,
Bigfoot, and Noah’s Ark, set up a serious scientific attempt to locate the Titanic.
Using the Sea MARC side-scan sonar, Grimm’s team ran systematic
grids through a search area over the last reported position of the
sinking. Although they discovered 14 potential wreck sites, the
Titanic still eluded them. Grimm tried again in 1981 and one final
time in 1983. Despite having the money, the right technology, and a
good crew, he was again unsuccessful. However, Grimm’s methodical,
hi-tech efforts still made the news. It was only a matter of time
before others would follow his lead.
In 1985, a joint French and American
expedition headed by Jean-Louis Michel of the French National Institute
of Oceanography (IFREMER) and Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) went out to search the Atlantic
waters. Using a newly developed French side scan sonar, called SAR
(sonar acoustique remorque), they “mowed the lawn” of a 400
square mile search grid. After 21 days of searching and covering 70% of
the search area, the Titanic still had not been found.
Transferring from the French ship Le Suroit to WHOI’s vessel
Knorr, the French-American team deployed a video system
mounted on WHOI’s towed search sled Argo. It took two tedious
weeks of pulling the sled systematically over the bottom before they
were rewarded for their efforts. On September 1, 1985 humans gazed on
the image of the Titanic for the first time since 1912.
Surprisingly, she was not in one piece but had broken into two huge
sections that had come to rest some ways apart from each other when she
plunged into the bottom. The dream of raising the Titanic intact
and towing her to New York was never going to happen.
In the summer of 1986, Robert Ballard returned
to the Titanic on WHOI’s research vessel Atlantis II.
Also onboard was the famous submersible
Alvin.
Alvin
was outfitted with a specialized little ROV called Jason Jr., or
JJ. In 11 dives, Alvin’s
crew filmed, photographed, and videotaped as much of the wreck as
possible. JJ was deployed to explore inside the wreck where it
was too dangerous or tight for the submersible. The images that were
shown to the world revealed a ship that had the right to be inhabited by
ghosts. The scattered pieces of intact china, passenger luggage, shoes,
the ship’s telegraph, and the dramatic, looming image of the bow were
surreal. Denizens of the deep glided over the promenades where, in
1912, people had walked.
The Titanic
is a photographer’s dream. Although it was now apparent that she could
never be raised, perhaps a big screen camera could capture her poignant
magnificence for a worldwide audience. In 1991 the documentary IMAX
film “Titanica” did just that by setting up an IMAX camera inside the
Russian Mir submersible’s pressure sphere. This 90 minute film,
shot through a tiny viewport, produced the first larger than life images
that were incredibly clear and detailed. Because the twin Mir
submersibles were available at a relatively “affordable” cost, going to
the Titanic became commercially viable. Explorers,
archeologists, artists, and even paying tourists were able to visit the
wreck using the Mirs.
A number of years
later a filmmaker visited the Titanic and made this already
famous ship a household name around the world. James Cameron landed on
the decks of the Titanic in 1995 to shoot scenes for his
motion picture “Titanic.” Although the story was fictional, the sets
and underwater footage were detailed and realistic because the images
were actually taken on the wreck. To film the Titanic, Cameron
and his brother Michael developed a small 35 mm motion picture camera
encased in a titanium housing. Mounted outside the submersible on a pan
and tilt mechanism, this housing had to be compact in order to withstand
6000 psi of water pressure. Consequently, there was room for only 500
feet of film, enough for a very short 12 minute shooting session.
Having such a small amount of film stock to take cinematic quality
footage on a 16 hour dive was, as Cameron said, “…a little scary.”
In addition to the
film camera, they designed and built a small ROV with a video cam.
Nested on the Mir, the ROV was sent exploring the corridors of
Titanic. This expedition brought back footage that became the
blueprint for the creation of the incredibly detailed sets of the
feature. But it was not to be Jim Cameron’s only journey to the
Titanic. Years later those “ghostly” images would draw him back.
The summer of 2001
found Cameron drifting over the decks of the Titanic, this time
to shoot an educational film with a difference: a 3-D, large-format
(“IMAX”) documentary film called “Ghosts of the Abyss.” Partnered with
Walden Media, Cameron wanted to “go one better” in the quality and
quantity of images shot on the wreck. Michael Cameron used the
resources of Sony, Panavision, Pace Technologies, and Phoenix
Engineering to develop a unique 3-D imaging system. The system’s heart
was a high definition digital video so superior in resolution that, when
transferred to 70 mm film stock, it would appear as if the scenes were
shot by a motion picture camera. To get the 3-D effect, the camera used
two lenses spaced 2.75 inches apart. Powerful lighting was supplied by
a purpose-built ROV platform called Medusa. Piloted from a ship
above, it followed the Mirs filming the watery gravesite.
Its payload of underwater lamps bathed the ship in light, enabling long
panoramic shots of the bow and stern sections as well as of the ship’s
debris field.
But the stars of the
expedition were the two breadbox-sized ROVs affectionately dubbed
Jake and Elwood (named after the Blues Brothers). Carrying
high quality video cams, these ROVs made record setting penetrations
inside the wreck, going to places were no one had gone since 1912 –
except perhaps the spirits that might still pace those decks. “Ghosts
of the Abyss” is scheduled for release in spring 2003.
Among the thousands
of ghostly images captured by the many expeditions to the Titanic
since its discovery, none is more dramatic and puzzling than the
alien-like structures that seemed to ooze off her hull. These
structures, called rusticles, are huge, rust-colored, icicle-like masses
of oxidized iron formed by complex and puzzling biological processes.
Simply put, certain types of bacteria and fungi can digest, chemically
alter, and secrete the iron that is present in steel. These secretions
result in the complex shapes found on the Titanic. Despite their
size, the rusticle structures are very fragile and burst into red clouds
of “dust” when lightly touched with the manipulator arms of a
submersible or ROV. For every rusticle that these microbes form, a
little bit more of the Titanic’s structure deteriorates.
Eventually, the Titanic will be reduced to a pile of red rust.
How many years this will take is anyone’s guess. However, before this
happens, microbiologists are determined to study the microbial organisms
and the process by which rusticles are formed.
One particularly
adventurous team of researchers came up with a unique device to help
unlock the mystery of these microbes. The team developed C-probes,
miniature 6-inch long by ¾-inch diameter instruments that are able to
electronically measure and store data on seawater temperature and
conductivity. Each C-probe also collects small water samples so that
chemical analysis of microbial activity can be carried out in a topside
lab. In order to collect a scientifically significant amount of data,
these researchers determined that they would need to place C-probes in
numerous locations inside the wreck. In that way, each probe could
collect and store data that, when uploaded and analyzed together, added
to the understanding of these microbes and the rusticle growth process.
The problem was how to get the probes inside the wreck and then collect
them later. The answer was to build a special mini-ROV, one that the
researchers affectionately named RUSTI. After more than a year of
preparation and testing, they loaded RUSTI, the C-probes, and mountains
of gear onto a small research vessel and sailed off to the Titanic.
The research vessel had been on site for a
number of days, with the weather as fine as it gets in the unpredictable
North Atlantic. The crew’s mood was buoyant; RUSTI was performing
beyond expectations and work was proceeding slightly ahead of schedule.
The mission was going well – maybe too well. Word had come from
the bridge officers that a sudden small but strong low-pressure front
was quickly moving towards them and that the ROV should be back on board
before the front blew up in the next few hours. The pilot, however, was
confident that he could finish placing this batch of instruments in
plenty of time to make a safe recovery before the storm hit.
RUSTI was working deep down inside an elevator
shaft in order to gain access to some of the ship’s staterooms. Having
placed 20 C-probes inside several of these staterooms and corridors
ahead of schedule, the pilot decided that he had time to check out a
nearby first-class stateroom on the pretense that it could be a possible
station site for more C-probes. In reality, the pilot was captivated by
the legendary ship and wanted an excuse to go exploring. He had a
suspicion that this particular stateroom belonged to the famous Molly
Brown. He intended to verify this by finding the brass bed she claimed
to have slept in. Allowing fifteen minutes for a quick look would still
get RUSTI topside in plenty of time before the weather worsened, he
reasoned.
RUSTI carefully nudged into the large cabin
through a ragged opening rimmed with rusticles. The pilot threaded
RUSTI through the loose debris to the farthest corner of the room.
Disappointment – there was no brass bed, just a bunch of hanging wires,
dangling rusticles, and a small stout box with a pad lock. Then,
suddenly, the water alarm on the control panel shrilled, the video
monitor went dark, and a red light flashed on the systems status
monitor. The electronics can had flooded and all power to the ROV was
down. RUSTI was powerless, heavier in the water by 10 pounds, and stuck
inside the Titanic, with a storm about to charge down on the
mother ship. Not a good situation. The only recovery option that the
pilot had was to put a bit of tension on the tether with the winch and
pray that RUSTI would ease clear of the wreckage.
Weather in the North Atlantic is difficult to
predict and the low-pressure front came down on the research ship much
quicker than anticipated. The seas grew higher as the crew tried
desperately to free RUSTI. Soon the captain was warning that the
vessel’s dynamic positioning system, or DPS, would no longer be able to
hold them in position over the wreck. With water sloshing up to their
knees, the crew tried one last time to slowly take in the umbilical in
the hopes of freeing RUSTI. Suddenly the deck tilted sharply and the
ship veered. One of the bow thrusters had stalled. It was only
non-functional for less than a minute but that was enough to put a
tremendous strain on the tether. As the DPS computer jockeyed the ship
back into position, the deck crew, fearing the worst, slowly spooled in
the cable, hoping by some miracle that RUSTI was coming up. But only
the severed and frayed end of RUSTI’s tether was hauled back onboard.
RUSTI was imprisoned over 12,000 feet below,
inside a first-class stateroom with about 6 feet of tether still
attached to her. All the research team could do now was head back to
port and hope to find an ROV that could recover RUSTI and gather up all
the valuable C-probes they had deployed. It wouldn’t be easy. RUSTI
was specially built to work inside a wreck. Any other ROV would have to
have the same capabilities and more. Because RUSTI was now heavier than
neutral buoyancy and quite a bite larger than a C-probe, any rescue ROV
would need to be small enough to get through the ragged gash and still
be powerful enough to lift RUSTI’s negative 10 pounds, drag it out the
door, and bring it up to the surface. The other difficulty was that all
those C-probes were in places with openings smaller than that of the
first-class stateroom. Maybe two ROVs were needed; a powerful one to
salvage RUSTI and another smaller and more nimble ROV to grab all of the
C-probes. Finding ROVs of this caliber and functionality would be a
tall order. Where would they find the talented, energetic, and eager
minds to design, build, and operate an ROV to accomplish one of these
challenging missions?
Scenario story
source material:
Ballard, Robert D. 1987. The Discovery of the Titanic.
Madison Publishing Inc., Toronto, Canada.
W.H. Garzake Jr., D.K
Brown, et al. “Titanic, the Anatomy of a Disaster. A Report from
the Marine Forensic Panel (SD-7).” The Society of Naval Architects and
Marine Engineers 1997 Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada. (Available at
www.dbi.sk.ca/droycon/sname.html)
RMS Titanic,
Inc. “Titanic: The Official Archive.”
www.titanic-online.com/titanic/
Droycon Bioconcepts,
Inc. “Titanic Rusticle.”
www.dbi.sk.ca/droycon/Titanic.html
Ken Marschall.
“James Cameron’s Titanic Expedition 2001: What We Saw On and Inside the
Wreck.”
www.flash.net/~sparks12/401cameron1.html
Mike Goodridge. 2002.
“Cameron takes buyers to Abyss.” Walden Media press release,
March 1, 2002.
http://www.walden.com/home.html
Twentieth Century Fox.
“Titanic.”
http://ww.titanicmovie.com
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