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Recent footage of the sunken Titanic was released on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. The clip was restored from the first submersible dives taken to the ship in July 1986. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution filmed the footage, which eventually led to the search for the vessel’s final resting place under the Atlantic Ocean. After the video was released, many people reacted to it on Twitter.
The footage that recently surfaced online was captured by cameras onboard Alvin, a three-person research submersible, and Jason Jr., a then-newly developed remotely operated vehicle. Jason Jr. was also able to penetrate the ship's wreck and return with iconic stills of the ship’s interior.
The video was released on Wednesday to coincide with James Cameron’s Titanic’s 25th anniversary. The footage spans over 80 minutes and was shot by an assembled team from the French Institute for Research and Exploration of the Sea (IFREMER) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Moreover, James Cameron, the director of the 1998 film and an ocean advocate, said in a WHOI statement:
“More than a century after the loss of Titanic, the human stories embodied in the great ship continue to resonate. By releasing this footage, WHOI is helping tell an important part of a story that spans generations and circles the globe.”
A rundown of the RMS Titanic's luxurious compartments and netizens' reactions to the footage
The British passenger liner, RMS Titanic, set sail on its first voyage from England’s Southampton to New York City on April 10, 1912. The first-class passengers of the vessel experienced the epitome of luxury, which started with a grand staircase that descended down into the dining room of the first class.
The luxuries extended to a lounge, a swimming pool, squash courts, an elegantly furnished Parisian cafe, a reading, and a writing room. Additionally, there was a gym alongside the swimming pool that provided the passengers with several activities to utilize their time during the voyage.
The ship’s parent company, White Star Line, also insisted that the liner’s safety was state-of-the-art. It was claimed that the ship had sixteen watertight compartments, which, in case of any emergency, could be sealed.
However, after only four days, the vessel hit an iceberg that sliced several of its compartments and flooded them. The “unsinkable” ship disappeared beneath the Atlantic’s waves within just a few hours. Out of the 2240 crew and passengers on board, more than 1500 met their deaths.
As the newly released footage surfaced online, people on Twitter saw the video and shared that it felt haunting. Meanwhile, others reminisced about the scenes from James Cameron's movie.
"She sinks in 20 minutes": WHOI team leader Robert Ballard recalled instances from the 1986 mission to the Titanic site
After the ship sank, attempts at finding and salvaging the remains of the vessel began soon after. However, technical limitations and the vast area of the search made it impossible. But new imaging technology was developed in 1985, which included a towed underwater camera that allowed a group of oceanographers from IFREMER and WHOI to discover Titanic’s ultimate resting location beneath the Atlantic.
In 1986, a three-person team returned to the site of the wreck through Alvin and Jason Jr. Robert Ballard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer, said:
“The first thing I saw coming out of the gloom at 30 feet was this wall, this giant wall of riveted steel that rose over 100 and some feet above us. I never looked down at the Titanic. I looked up at the Titanic. Nothing was small.”
Ballard was on the WHOI team. The wreck was discovered by the team at about 2 am, and coincidentally, 75 years ago, the ship sank at about 2.20 am.
Ballard recalled one of their crew members referring to the time the ship sank all those years ago:
“She sinks in 20 minutes.”
Ballard said that the team then paused the operation and held a small memorial service for everyone who had died. The former Navy officer recalled seeing the victims' shoes, including a pair that looked like they belonged to a mother and her child.
When the submersible rose to the surface, Ballard remembered that it peered through the potholes of the ship. He shared that it felt quite haunting because it appeared as if people were looking back at them.
Almost 111 years since the Titanic sank, its story has captivated the public and inspired numerous poems, songs, art, and films, including the 1997 blockbuster of the same name, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as Rose and Jack.
