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Reports written by Susan
Wels
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Images produced by Matt Tulloch | |||
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Saturday, August 1, 1998
"We were steaming at 22 or 23 knots, not reducing speed at all, in spite of the many warnings of the presence of ice, which had come in from other ships during the afternoon and evening. We were out for a record run."
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 The
2,000-ton Ocean Voyager is definitely no greyhound. Today, we’re
chugging along at an average speed of about 9 knots—far less than half
the speed of the Titanic and considerably slower than a waterskiing
boat.That may be a blessing—especially because, even at this speed, the Ocean Voyager is seesawing wildly from side to side in relatively tranquil seas. Needless to say, many of us have opted to pass on the lunch menu of goulash and lemon meringue pie. Instead, we’re scattered out on the decks seeking fresh air and sunshine, which has thankfully arrived. We’re on the edge of the Gulf Stream, and one of the crew members has thrown a fishing line over the stern rail. With a bit of luck, he tells me, we might be enjoying fresh tuna for dinner. Though she isn’t built for speed, the 200-foot-long Ocean Voyager is a sturdy vessel. A certified icebreaker, she normally works the waters of the North Sea, Mediterranean and Caribbean on geological surveys. On this voyage, however, her job is to serve as home ship for two of the technological stars of the expedition: Magellan and T-Rex. |
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 These
small, yellow, robotic subs are ROVs—camera-equipped remote-operated
vehicles—that will explore areas of the Titanic that are too
inaccessible and dangerous for the manned submersible Nautile.
Right now, a nine-person team from the Discovery Channel and Stardust
Visuals are spending much of their time aboard the Ocean Voyager
consulting with Titanic experts to plan possible points of entry
into the Titanic’s bow and stern—from Captain Smith’s
cabin and Thomas Andrews’ stateroom to third-class hallways, gated
passages and rooms.The ROVs still have to be tested when we arrive at the Titanic’s position. If all goes well, they’ll be videotaping 2.5-miles down at the Titanic’s wreck site 24 hours a day—beaming back dramatic interior and exterior images of the ship that have never been seen before. Magellan, in a sense, is the mother ROV. Weighing in at 4,000 lbs. and equipped with the most advanced underwater cameras in the world, she’s able to dive to 20,000 feet and recently passed the 19,000-foot mark on a deep-water Pacific survey. Reaching the Titanic, nearly 13,000 feet down, presents no problem. |
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 The
challenge will be to link Magellan up with fiber-optic tethers to
the "baby" sub, T-Rex, which she’ll deploy to explore
deeper, more confined areas of the wreck. Weighing only 250 pounds, T-Rex
is a whole lot smaller, simpler and less expensive than Magellan.
With any luck, she’ll be able to scoot through openings and passages
in the Titanic that are far too risky for the bigger ROV.That’s just what her creators, Bill and Susan Willard, hope she’ll do. Bill is a high school teacher in Seneca, South Carolina, and his wife, Susan, is a chemical quality control engineer. They’re both passionate about learning more about the Titanic, and they built the mini-ROV with their own ingenuity and funds. Their 13-year-old son, Daniel, came up with the name T-Rex for "Titanic Remote Explorer," and some of Bill’s students helped test her. Sixty-five people from their hometown even showed up to cheer them when they took T-Rex for her first underwater dive. |
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 Now
Bill and Susan are members of the ’98 Titanic Expedition.
"Because we had the right idea and put in a lot of hard work, we
have a dream that’s coming true," Bill says. "As long as
people have questions about the Titanic, we want to help come up
with ways to find the answers."Back to the Expedition Calendar |
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