How Did the 'Unsinkable' Titanic End Up at the Bottom of the Ocean? | National Geographic

It took three years to build and less than three hours to sink. The most iconic shipwreck in history, the Titanic, held as the most beautiful and luxurious boat of her time. The Titanic set sail once and for all from Southampton, England, to New York City on April 10th, 1912. She weighed a record-breaking 46,000 tons and was built by some 15,000 people.

Ironically, the ship boasted many of the best safety features of its day. A prestigious journal, the Shipbuilder Magazine, called the Titanic practically unsinkable. The popular opinion quickly grew that the Titanic was indestructible—an ominous consequence of this overconfidence. During its voyage, there were no passenger safety drills to give instructions on where to go or which lifeboats to board in case of emergency. But there weren't enough lifeboats to begin with; only 20 were available, which was enough to carry about half of the total passengers and crew.

Bruce Ismay, the owner, thought having 64 lifeboats—enough for everyone on board—would make the ship look too cluttered. This emphasis on elegance didn't stop with Titanic's outward appearance. Inside, there were top-notch luxuries: the grand staircase running the height of six decks, a heated swimming pool, a state-of-the-art gym, four restaurants, and two barber shops.

So how much did the Titanic cost? About seven point five million dollars at the time, or over four hundred million dollars today. Now, over a hundred years later, the Titanic has been hidden in darkness, lying over 12,000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean. So how exactly did she sink? We do know that on April 14, 1912, the boat entered a region of icebergs. Six warning messages were sent to Captain Edward John Smith. He adjusted Titanic's course southward but didn't slow down.

By the time lookouts spotted an iceberg, it was too late. The official 1912 accident report suggests that the iceberg tore a gigantic 300-foot gash on the ship's starboard side, ripping over 1/3 of her entire hull. However, eyewitnesses say it took over two hours to sink, which confuses experts who believed a hole that size would have caused the Titanic to sink much faster. Investigations confirm that the iceberg created smaller punctures below the waterline and not a large gash, which were enough to trigger the tragedy.

In 1985, using state-of-the-art sonar, National Geographic Explorer Robert Ballard and French oceanographer Jean Louis Michel found the infamous shipwreck about 400 miles southeast of Newfoundland. Extensive surveys have located artifacts that reveal the human side of the tragedy. A notebook was found 780 feet from the stern; it belonged to a 17-year-old passenger, with pencil writing that's still legible.

With new technology, we can see and study the Titanic like never before, which is good because our fascination with this tragedy has not relaxed a bit. Perhaps it's the iconic tale of the Titanic that's truly unseen. [Music]