The Titanic was one of the greatest ships ever built. On 10 April 1912 it left England on its first voyage. On the ship were more than 2,200 passengers and crew. Four days later, as it was crossing the Atlantic on its way to the United States, it hit an iceberg and sank. More than 1,500 people died in the freezing water, and the Titanic disappeared beneath the sea. Its exact location remained a mystery until it was found in 1985 by Dr Robert D. Ballard.
Ballard has spent more than thirty years exploring under the sea. He pioneered the use of deep-diving submersibles and has been on more than 120 undersea expeditions. In 1973 and 1974 he explored the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a huge undersea mountain range in the Atlantic. In 1977 he discovered 2.5-metre worms living in the sea near Ecuador, South America. He also discovered underwater volcanoes off the coast of California in 1979. Ballard was the perfect person to search for the Titanic.
Ballard began his search for the Titanic in 1977. His first attempt failed, but he didn’t give up. In August 1985 he returned to the area where the Titanic sank. A submersible named Argo travelled along almost 4 kilometres below Ballard’s ship, transmitting pictures to Ballard. Early on the morning of 1 September, Ballard noticed unusual shapes in the sand at the bottom of the sea. Then he saw clear