Missing Titanic sub search continues as banging sounds heard
A massive search operation is underway to find the Titan submersible with five people on board that went missing Sunday on a trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
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A massive search operation is underway to find the Titan submersible with five people on board that went missing Sunday on a trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
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Sonar picked up banging sounds Tuesday during the search, indicating "continued hope of survivors," according to an internal US government memo.
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With the vessel's air supplies dwindling, the US Coast Guard said underwater noises were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft, prompting the relocation of resources to explore their origin, but "searches have yielded negative results."
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Aboard are a British adventurer, a French diver, a Pakistani father and son and the founder of the company that operates the tour, according to social media posts, a family statement and sources.
Sonar picked up banging sounds Tuesday during the search, indicating "continued hope of survivors," according to an internal US government memo.
With the vessel's air supplies dwindling, the US Coast Guard said underwater noises were detected by a Canadian P-3 aircraft, prompting the relocation of resources to explore their origin, but "searches have yielded negative results."
Aboard are a British adventurer, a French diver, a Pakistani father and son and the founder of the company that operates the tour, according to social media posts, a family statement and sources.
The submersible that has gone missing in the North Atlantic was part of an expedition to view the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, perhaps the most famous shipwreck in the world.
More than 100 years after its disastrous maiden voyage, the fate of the luxury liner has long served as a source of fascination, and been the backdrop for countless books, fiction and non-fiction and, of course, a blockbuster movie.
The ship set sail from Southampton, England, to New York on April 10, 1912.
Then, between April 14 to 15, it hit an iceberg around midnight and sank in less than three hours.
A total of 1,517 people died and 706 survived out of 2,223 passengers and crew, according to the US Senate report on the disaster.
Here are more interesting facts about the Titanic:
The ship: The estimated cost of construction was $7.5 million. At the time, the RMS Titanic was the largest passenger ship afloat. The ship’s length was 882 feet, 9 inches, and it weighed 46,328 tons. Its top speed was 23 knots. The wreckage is located about 350 miles off the southeast coast of Newfoundland.
How the Titanic sank: The iceberg punctured five of 16 supposedly watertight compartments designed to hold water in case of a breach to the hull. Investigations at the time blamed Capt. Edward Smith for going too fast in dangerous waters, initial ship inspections that had been done too quickly, insufficient room in the lifeboats for all passengers, and a nearby ship’s failure to help. Many maritime safety reforms were implemented as a result of the findings of the investigations.
Smith went down with the ship, and his body was never recovered.
Key dates post-shipwreck:
- September 1, 1985: Scientists from Woods Hole Deep Submergence LAB in Massachusetts, led by Dr. Robert Ballard, and IFREMER, the French Institute Francais de Recherche pour l’Exploitation des Mers, led by Jean Jarry, locate the wreckage of Titanic.
- July 13, 1986: Ballard and his crew use the manned deep-ocean research submersible Alvin to explore the wreckage. The Alvin is accompanied by a remotely operated vehicle named Jason Jr. to conduct photographic surveys and further inspections.
- May 31, 2009: The last known survivor, Millvina Dean, dies at age 97.
- April 8-20, 2012: The 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s voyage. The MS Balmoral traces the ship’s route from Southampton to New York and holds a memorial service, above the wreck, on April 15.
- Summer, 2022: Deep sea investigators Magellan and filmmakers Atlantic Productions use deep sea mapping to create "an exact ‘Digital Twin’ of the Titanic wreck for the first time."