RMS Titanic, Inc. - 1998 Research and Recovery Expedition

Reports written by Susan Wels

Images produced by Matt Tulloch

Sunday, August 2, 1998

"It was a beautiful sight to one who had not crossed the ocean before...to stand on the top deck and watch the swell of the sea extending outwards from the ship...while along it the morning sun glittered and sparkled."

--Lawrence Beesley
Second-class passenger
The Titanic

On an afternoon like this, the North Atlantic is a fine place to be. Sitting in the sun outside the bridge, I’m almost hypnotized by the rolling sapphire sea and the cottony clouds hugging the horizon.

What’s most amazing to me is the wildlife, out here in the middle of the ocean. Herring gulls, cormorants, kittiwakes and other seabirds skim the surface of the sea, diving for food hundreds of miles from any land. Though I haven’t seen whales today, I did spot the dark dorsal fin of a shark just a few ominous feet off the starboard side.

The ocean, thankfully, is gentler today, and most of us have recovered from the effects of yesterday’s lurchings. Bob Sitrick, Discovery Channel’s technical operations director, has unrolled his beach towel and is catching some rays on the top deck. But not for too long. As Jimmy James, the ship’s grey-bearded safety officer, tells me, there’s no such thing as a Sunday out at sea.

That’s definitely true on the Ocean Voyager. Inside the bridge, the meetings go on, hour after hour, with the expedition’s naval architects and marine engineers, Bill Garzke and David Livingstone. The two experts huddle endlessly with the television team over a detailed model of the Titanic’s wreck and debris field, debating strategies for surveying the ship’s mangled stern.

Harland and Wolff naval architect David Livingstone

David Livingstone has unique credentials for investigating the wreck of the Titanic. Harland and Wolff, the company he’s worked for since 1961, is the shipbuilding firm that designed and constructed the Titanic and her giant sister ships, Olympic and Brittanic. The firm laid the Titanic’s keel in 1908 and took charge of every detail, from her hull and machinery to her carved paneling and extravagant decor.

Like Bill, David was a member of the 1996 Titanic expedition, and he’s most interested in the technical aspects of the ship—how she was constructed and operated and the facts of how she sank. "From a professional naval architect’s viewpoint," he says, "there’s so much myth, legend and misrepresentation about the Titanic. I’m interested in determining the facts of what happened to the ship, because the facts are always much more interesting."

Bill agrees. As chairman of the Marine Forensics Panel of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, he’s particularly eager to study the Titanic’s rivets, which he thinks may have played a significant role in the liner’s breakup. He also plans to test the Titanic’s steel to measure its ductility, and he’ll attempt to gauge the speed at which she was sinking when she slammed into the bottom of the sea.

The Titanic, Bill says, was one of the first ships he ever read about, and this expedition will help determine the truth about the disaster. "I want posterity to know what really happened and," he declares, "to see history set straight."

Back to the Expedition Calendar



		Reports written by Susan Wels	Images produced by Matt Tulloch

		Sunday, August 2, 1998 "It was a beautiful sight to one who had not crossed the ocean before...to stand on the top deck and watch the swell of the sea extending outwards from the ship...while along it the morning sun glittered and sparkled." --Lawrence Beesley Second-class passenger The Titanic
		On an afternoon like this, the North Atlantic is a fine place to be. Sitting in the sun outside the bridge, I’m almost hypnotized by the rolling sapphire sea and the cottony clouds hugging the horizon. What’s most amazing to me is the wildlife, out here in the middle of the ocean. Herring gulls, cormorants, kittiwakes and other seabirds skim the surface of the sea, diving for food hundreds of miles from any land. Though I haven’t seen whales today, I did spot the dark dorsal fin of a shark just a few ominous feet off the starboard side. The ocean, thankfully, is gentler today, and most of us have recovered from the effects of yesterday’s lurchings. Bob Sitrick, Discovery Channel’s technical operations director, has unrolled his beach towel and is catching some rays on the top deck. But not for too long. As Jimmy James, the ship’s grey-bearded safety officer, tells me, there’s no such thing as a Sunday out at sea. That’s definitely true on the Ocean Voyager. Inside the bridge, the meetings go on, hour after hour, with the expedition’s naval architects and marine engineers, Bill Garzke and David Livingstone. The two experts huddle endlessly with the television team over a detailed model of the Titanic’s wreck and debris field, debating strategies for surveying the ship’s mangled stern.
		David Livingstone has unique credentials for investigating the wreck of the Titanic. Harland and Wolff, the company he’s worked for since 1961, is the shipbuilding firm that designed and constructed the Titanic and her giant sister ships, Olympic and Brittanic. The firm laid the Titanic’s keel in 1908 and took charge of every detail, from her hull and machinery to her carved paneling and extravagant decor. Like Bill, David was a member of the 1996 Titanic expedition, and he’s most interested in the technical aspects of the ship—how she was constructed and operated and the facts of how she sank. "From a professional naval architect’s viewpoint," he says, "there’s so much myth, legend and misrepresentation about the Titanic. I’m interested in determining the facts of what happened to the ship, because the facts are always much more interesting."
		Bill agrees. As chairman of the Marine Forensics Panel of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, he’s particularly eager to study the Titanic’s rivets, which he thinks may have played a significant role in the liner’s breakup. He also plans to test the Titanic’s steel to measure its ductility, and he’ll attempt to gauge the speed at which she was sinking when she slammed into the bottom of the sea. The Titanic, Bill says, was one of the first ships he ever read about, and this expedition will help determine the truth about the disaster. "I want posterity to know what really happened and," he declares, "to see history set straight." Back to the Expedition Calendar
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