A bronze statue from the Titanic was among the discoveries made this month by RMS Titanic Inc. when they completed their first expedition since 2010 in the North Atlantic Ocean.
In 1986, an explorer captured an image of “Diana of Versailles,” a two-foot-tall bronze statue of the Roman goddess, lying in the debris of the RMS Titanic, more than 12,000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean.
For scientists, researchers, and explorers, Diana’s location was reportedly hard to pinpoint from the photo, and the site of the shipwreck was also unknown. Those who may have seen her over the years were unable to disclose her location.
Researchers with RMS Titanic Inc., the Georgia-based company and only entity able to legally recover artifacts going on 112 years, recently rediscovered Diana’s precise whereabouts and photographed the statue, which once stood in the Titanic’s first-class lounge.
The team spent 20 days at the wreck site using the latest technology to capture more than 2 million of the highest resolution images and video to date, whilst fully mapping the wreck and debris utilizing LiDAR, sonar, and a hyper-magnetometer to enhance our understanding of its historical significance.
“Nine expeditions have honorably and respectfully been conducted to the wreck site [in the past]. In seven of those expeditions, artifacts were recovered, about 5,500 in total. [RMS Titanic Inc.’s] expeditions have been seen by over 35 million people,” said PR Newswire.
RMS Titanic Inc. has faced efforts from the federal government and scientists to try to block them from disturbing the wreck site and removing objects from it.
Along with Diana's rediscovery, the expedition team also found over one hundred years of decay and degradation on the Titanic.
One of which particularly involves the bow (front) of the ship. What was once an intact railing on the port side is now missing a 15-foot-long section.
Titanic Inc. reviewed multibeam imagery of the bow and determined the railing had fallen off in one piece and was lying on the sea floor below.
“Although I believe that the Titanic’s collapse is inevitable, the evidence of the railing falling off should spark the need for Titanic Inc. to preserve and document what they can before it is too late,” NHS sophomore Clare Csaszar said.
The Titanic’s bow is featured in a famous scene in the 1997 film “Titanic,” in which Jack holds Rose from behind as she pretends to fly. In 2022, images from a different company’s expedition showed the bow’s railing still intact.
“We are saddened by this loss and the inevitable decay of the Ship and the debris…over the course of the next few weeks and months, we will conduct a more thorough review of Titanic’s condition and her changes over time,” RMS Titanic Inc. said.
The journey to the remote corner of the North Atlantic Ocean where the Titanic sank occurred due to the U.S. Coast Guard investigating the June 2023 implosion of the Titan. The Titan was an experiment submersible owned by American tourism and expeditions company, OceanGate that imploded and killed all five people on board; one of which included the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Nargeolet was allegedly going to lead the next expedition in 2023 before he died with the exclusive purpose of collecting artifacts.
As a result, research surrounding the Titanic halted, leading to discoveries including the statue approximately a year later.
“[RMS Titanic Inc.] is now focused on carefully processing the data so findings can be shared with the Titanic and scientific communities and historically significant and at-risk artifacts can be identified for safe recovery in future expeditions,” according to the New York Times.
“I think it is really cool to see what researchers can find from centuries ago in such secluded places of the world; using so much newly developed technology,” NHS junior Nichole Tabor said.
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