Irish footage shows Titanic rusting away

The Irish Independent ^ | Sunday, 16th October, 2005 | NICOLA TALLANT

[nickcarraway]

AMAZING new footage of the sunken Titanic taken during an Irishman's poignant dive to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, has uncovered how the ship is rusting away.

Pictures of the boat, which sank in 1912 with the loss of 1,500 lives, reveal how the luxury liner is disintegrating under the pressures of the freezing seas. The main mast is collapsing in on itself and the decks are crumbling away.

Professional diver Rory Golden, who brought a plaque from Harland and Wolff shipyard to the wreck, said the Belfast-built ship is rusting at a dramatic rate.

"She is falling apart, she really is. There is an awful lot of decay. The main mast is collapsing and the decks are falling in. She is disintegrating before your eyes. She is in a bad way," he said.

Mr Golden, from Dublin, was charged with diving to the bottom of the ocean in a special Russian-built submarine to place the plaque on the Titanic's bridge earlier this year.

Footage taken during his dive, two-and-a-half miles below the surface of the ocean, will be screened in a special BBC documentary. It shows how a lot of windows on the ship are still intact despite the horrendous damage caused when she hit an iceberg 350 miles off the Canadian coast.

But it also shows how rust is growing so rapidly that it is enveloping the old portholes and threatening to to crumble what is left of the wreck.

The Titanic's huge anchor still lies on the deck of the liner, and the foot of the huge mast is still visible where it fell backwards as the ship sank.

An endless veil of rust is gradually overwhelming the port holes near where the grand staircase once stood.

The Titanic's collapsing structure also reveals another amazing detail - the white enamel of the captain's bath which is still intact.

The ship which, broke in two as she sank, lies in two pieces on the ocean floor with the stern and the bow hundreds of yards apart.

Mr Golden said that seeing the Titanic is the best dive in the world: "As a diver it is the ultimate dive. If you ask what is the world's most dangerous shipwreck - it is the Titanic."

'A Journey to Remember' is on BBC1 tomorrow at 10.35pm

[Ole Okie]

And to think: it's all Bush's fault.

[pcottraux]

That will definitely happen, if you're made of medal and have been under two miles of salty water for 84 years.

[thulldud]

Professional diver Rory Golden, who brought a plaque from Harland and Wolff shipyard to the wreck, said the Belfast-built ship is rusting at a dramatic rate.

"She is falling apart, she really is. There is an awful lot of decay. The main mast is collapsing and the decks are falling in. She is disintegrating before your eyes. She is in a bad way," he said.

Well, duh! She's sunk!! Isn't that bad enough?

[The Brush]

But it also shows how rust is growing so rapidly that it is enveloping the old portholes and threatening to to crumble what is left of the wreck.

Well there go my cruise plans

[U S Army EOD]

Ships that have been sunk for almost 100 years really have a rough time.

[xJones]

Professional diver Rory Golden, who brought a plaque from Harland and Wolff shipyard to the wreck, said the Belfast-built ship is rusting at a dramatic rate.

Well, we just can't have this dramatic rusting rate. She's only two and a half miles down, so let's go haul 'er up!

[ExtremeUnction]

Everything dies..ships, people, buildings, and eventually, Earth itself. Placing the plaque was a silly gesture. It too will decay and wither, like tombstones in ancient Scottish cemeteries..

[uncitizen]

Pictures of the boat, ...reveal how the luxury liner is disintegrating under the pressures of the freezing seas.

Ahh. Global warming takes another victim.

[CondorFlight]

Well, I'm glad it was located while there was still something to see of it. We got some amazing pictures while it was still there.

[uncitizen]

Is there something unusual about metal ships underwater for close to 100 years getting rusty? /rhetorical

[Prime Choice]

HMS Titanic was lost nearly a full century ago. It is only right that the sea claim her entirely. That is the way of things.

I can no more be upset by Titanic's disintegration than I can be upset about the corruption of my own physical form long after death has claimed me.

[fat city]

"Everything dies..ships, people, buildings, and eventually, Earth itself"

Apparently, not the Captain's bath.

[isthisnickcool]

The awful thing is that the iceberg that the Titanic hit has melted away to nothing because of global warming!!!!! /s off

[LasVegasMac]

That will definitely happen, if you're made of medal and have been under two miles of salty water for 84 years.

I hear medal has a much higher rust rate than metal.

LVM

[Texas Eagle]

They just don't make shipwrecks the way they used to.

[Alberta's Child]

I wonder if the salt is more destructive than the water itself.

We're coming up on the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior (November 10th, I think). From what I understand, that wreckage is remarkably well-preserved -- and I'm guessing that the wreckage simply doesn't corrode very quickly in fresh water (especially very cold fresh water).

[Alberta's Child]

Correction -- make that the 30th anniversary (it sank in 1975).

[marsh_of_mists]

She is falling apart, she really is...She is disintegrating before your eyes. She is in a bad way"

Is it possible to picture someone saying this phrase without a Bristol accent?

[theDentist]

Well, it is at the bottom of the ocean. And constant visits which blow the accumulated silt from it in order to see details merely speed up the rusting process. Why oh why have I the feeling that some learned dolt is going to propose that some process be found to prevent further rusting of her, so she can be admired for years to come? /pseudo-sarcasm