Makenna Dunn

Period 1
English 1010
The Fate of the Titanic
Two and a half miles beneath the surface of the ocean lies the remains of the
great ship R.M.S Titanic. All 882 feet and nine inches lies strewn along nearly 1,000
acres of ocean floor (Vergano). These remains bear the memories of all those who
passed in the tragic accident on that fateful night April 15, 1912. The enduring icon
was designed by Thomas Andrews for the White Star Line in 1909. The vessel was
finally completed in 1912 after three years of construction (Washington). The Titanic
was successfully launched on May 31, 1911 into the River Lagan in Belfast, Ireland.
After the initial launch after the main body of the ship was complete, it took nearly a
year to finish building the lavish interior of the ship. When all construction was
complete, the Titanic was the most extravagant ship ever built. It was deemed
unsinkable with its double bottom and fifteen watertight bulkheads. In the end
though, these would be questioned as possible fatal flaws (History.com Staff).
This extravagant ship made its maiden voyage in April of 1912. Departing
from Southampton, England and making stops in Cherbourg, France and
Queenstown, Ireland the ship had a total of 2,240 passengers. Many of the
passengers were wealthy and popular people, the rest were lower class people and
staff. Nearly four days into the ships voyage, disaster struck when people were least
expecting it. It was a clear, moonless night. The stars were shining brightly on the
oceans surface reflecting the night sky. The night was so calm and windless that
the lookouts didnt see the outline of the ice berg until it was too late. The ship

turned sharply in an attempt to avoid the ice berg at the last minute. The maneuver
was unsuccessful and the ice berg clawed a 300 foot gash in the bottom of the ship.
After nearly three hours of a panicked evacuation attempt, the great ship fell
completely below the surface, taking all those innocent passengers who couldnt
manage to escape with her (History.com Staff). Now, more than 103 years after the
catastrophe lies the deteriorating remains of the Titanic. The question lies as to
what we should do with the remains of the Titanic. We could leave the Titanic and
all of its memories to rest and let nature take its course with the remains. There is
also the possibility of bringing up the Titanic in tiny sections and preserving it on
land. Dan Vergano of USA Today quoted James Delgado of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), We cant raise her, and we cant keep her
forever as it is now. So what is right to do with the Titanic?
One of the many options for the R.M.S Titanic is to leave the large ship down
in its final resting place and let mother nature take control of the ships future. This
presents many upsides and downsides to the legacy of the Titanic. Leaving the
Titanic to mother nature makes study of the ship and how it was built, harder.
According to Danny Lewis, shipworms and iron-eating microbes feast on the ships
hull. These small life forms aid in the deterioration of the Titanic. One kind of
bacteria is described by an author at Discovery News; [The newly discovered
bacteria Halomonas Titanicae] are eating the wrecks metal and leaving behind
Rusticles, or icicle-like deposits of rust. The author also says that these rusticles
eventually turn into a fine powder and dissolve in the surrounding water. These
rusticles will be the cause of the Titanics eventual disintegration.

Another factor of the Titanics increasing deterioration are the expeditions

that have gone down to the wreck site. Danny Lewis said, Most of the destruction is
being done by humans that are landing on it. Expeditions that have gone down to
the Titanic havent been careful enough and have been bumping into the wreckage
and damaging it even more than nature itself is damaging it. Another effect human
beings are having on the wreck is litter left behind. In between legitimate
expeditions, the wreck attracts tourists. These tourists leave behind all of their trash
and waste by the wreck site. This trash is believed to be feeding all the different
kinds of bacteria that are eating at what is left of the ship (Vergano).
The wreck of the Titanic happened through natural causes. Leaving the ship
to nature is said to be the good thing to do because the nature of the wreck reflects
on how the wreck should be taken care of, naturally. Dan Vergano describes the
ocean floor as perfect for preservation. It is cold, dark and has slow circulating water
surrounding the ship. Also the bow of the ship is sealed in sixty feet of mud,
protecting the ship from the bacteria in the water. These things considered the
Titanic wreckage could last much longer and give explorers and archaeologists more
time to reveal all the secrets the Titanics wreckage holds. Although recent
discoveries by Parks Stephensons sonographic images show that there are large
sand dunes forming around a mile from the wreck site. These large sand dunes have
the potential to move with the current closer to the Titanic wreck and cover the
entire wreck, hiding it from the world forever.
Keeping the ship two and a half miles down where it rests now would keep
the horrors and tragedies of the ship hidden where they lie. The night of the wreck,
countless things were left behind by the people who were trying to escape from
their doom. Memories scatter the ocean floor, special keep sakes are shallowly

buried beneath the sand and mud. These things invoke emotion in certain people
and also spark controversy. For families of the victims of Titanic artifacts that have
been brought up has helped them a lot. Dan Vergano quotes P.H. Nargeolet,
bringing their families items to the surface-a trunk or letters- has told the world
their story in a way that otherwise would have been lost or forgotten. Although not
all the artifacts buried with Titanic are all good and happy. Many bodies are thought
to still remain down inside the wreckage. By letting nature take care of the
wreckage, all the sadness and disturbing things left with Titanic would be left there
for good.
Another option for the fate of the R.M.S Titanic is to bring the pieces of the
wreck up slowly, one by one, until we have the whole ship up on land. This method
of dealing with the Titanics remains makes for some challenge and effort. Although
if the Titanic was brought up in its entirety, it would be easier to study and teach
people with. All of the archaeologists that have been studying the materials and the
structure of the Titanic would have easier access to the actual ship and its
materials. They have been studying the Titanic while it is two and a half miles below
the surface using only technology and cameras to see the wreckage. Seeing and
being able to physically touch the Titanic would help answer so many unanswered
questions. The pieces of the Titanic would also be a great field trip destination and
teaching example to use in classes and schools everywhere.
On the other hand, bringing up the ship presents a set of challenges. On of
these challenges is physically getting the Titanic up from the bottom of the ocean.
The Titanic as a whole weighed nearly 50,000 tons (History.com Staff). The 50,000
tons broke up during the wreck and the fall to the bottom of the ocean, although
many of those pieces that broke off still weigh many tons. Because of their heavy

weight, the pieces would be very hard to bring up. The next challenge that comes
with bringing up these large pieces is the ocean floor itself. Many of the pieces that
fell hit the ocean floor with enough force to plunge them deep into the muddy and
sandy floor (Rushmore DeNooyer). For example, the bow is embedded into the
ocean floor nearly sixty feet (Vergano). With the pieces in the ocean floor this far, it
would make it nearly impossible to pull parts of the ship from the wreckage site in
tact. Danny Lewis quoted Robert Ballard when he said, the bow section is
embedded deep in the bottom, which is holding the ship together.
Another challenge that comes with bringing up the Titanic is the damage it
could cause to artifacts and the overall structure of the Titanic. As stated above,
pieces of the Titanic are embedded in the ocean floor, which is holding parts
together. Lifting these out of the mud has cause for potential break apart of the
pieces. Also, cables would have to somehow be connected to the pieces being
brought up to be able to get them to the surface. Where would these cables be
attached if the main goal was preserving the piece being brought up? The ship is so
fragile after the long time spent two and a half miles below the surface for more
than one hundred years and would not be able to hold itself together. Also, artifacts
that remain inside the ship have the potential of being ruined from the sudden
movement of the ship after such a long time of being in the same place. In order to
prevent the ruining of artifacts inside what is left of the Titanic, expeditions would
have to go down with the main goal of emptying artifacts from the remains of the
ship. While being lifted, if a method of lifting is found to be successful, the rusticles
and rusted areas of the ship could disintegrate on the long journey back to the ship
taking the artifacts back to land. It is uncertain to say when the Titanic will collapse,
but it is quite possible it could happen while working on bringing up the Titanic

(Washington). Robert Ballard said [To] raise the Titanicwould destroy it.
(Vergano).
The biggest factor that makes bringing up the Titanic challenging is how
costly it would be. Extensive research would have to be done before hand. Doing
this much research would take a lot of time and therefore money in order to
complete. Also, it would take multitudes of time to get an expedition team ready to
retrieve the ship and to also get permission from all the different people and
agencies in charge of preserving the Titanic. Once all the research was prepared,
the machinery would need to be assembled. In the documentary by Rushmore
DeNooyer the one piece of machinery in the show cost nearly two million dollars.
That was only for one ROV. The machinery needed to raise the Titanic would be
many times larger and therefore more expensive. [Its] great, but has anyone got a
spare half-billion dollars Dan Vergano quoted Philip Sims.
The idea of raising the titanic raises again the horrid truth of the possibility of
human remains stuck inside the parts of the ship that are not affected by ocean
currents or small life eating bacteria. In an article in the New York Times, states that
if bodies are cut off from the open ocean and are in a place with reduced oxygen
levels, bones or even whole bodies can stay in tact. Pulling up the Titanic would
expose these bodies and make for a very disturbing discovery.
Both of the options concerning the fate of the Titanic have things in common.
One of the many things is that either way, there is possibility and almost certainty
of the ship being ruined. Both ways the rusticles that have made the Titanic remains
home, will ruin the Titanic. In letting nature take its course, the rusticles will break
down the iron of the ship and eventually lead to the ships complete decay. In

raising the great ship, the rusticles have made the ship weak and bringing it up
would break these rusticles off along with parts of the ship. In the end of both
stories, the ship has a major problem with rust and deteriorating because of it.
Another commonality between the two fates of the Titanic are the fact that
the ship is a tomb for those who passed in the tragic accident on April 15, 1912. In
leaving mother nature to take care of the ship, it would also be taking care of the
bodies left behind in the remains of the ship. The bodies would be disturbed by fish
and other bacteria eating away at things down that deep in the ocean. In the fate of
the Titanic where it is raised for the entire world to see, the bodies that are possibly
hidden in small, oxygen deficient compartments would be found by the people
bringing the parts of the ship up. If there are in fact bodies that are semi-intact
inside the Titanic, it would be a hard discovery. In both, the bodies are disturbed
from their final resting place and tomb.
A good end to both of these fates can come if combining the two is
considered. Some think leaving the Titanic to nature is a good idea because of many
different aspects. The ship is looked at as a natural disaster so nature should just
finish it off. Also, it leaves those who went down and met their fate with the ship
down in their tomb. Although some like the idea of bringing up the Titanic better. It
can be used as a teaching tool and it is easier to study the ship while it is above the
water since researchers can get hands on with the ship. In order to please people of
these different opinions, a compromise can be made. This compromise consists of
leaving the ship down where it found its final resting place nearly two and a half
miles below the surface of the ocean, and using modern technology to preserve the
Titanic with special paints and films to make it last longer.

The Titanic reaches all the Vessel Preservation Standards set up and
summarized by Kevin J. Foster. The Titanic has made contribution to history, and is
significant of people in the past. The magnificent ship qualifies for the new
advances in ship preservation. A method for preserving underwater vessels is using
anti-fouling paint. Robert Ballard said that when he looked at the hull of the ship,
the anti-fouling paint was still on the ship and protecting the metal. Ballard also said
that preserving the wreck in this way would consist of scraping the clean using
deep-water robots. These robots would also be used to repainting the ship with.
These paints are anti-fouling epoxy paints and polymer waxes that can be applied
underwater in order to keep things from eating away at the metal (Ballard). Another
part to the compromise between the two fates of the Titanic is the allowance of
expeditions to continue to go down to the wreck as long as they are not doing
anything destructive to the wreck site.
The compromise overall would be to keep the Titanic down at its final resting
place in order to keep the tomb for all those that lost their lives in tact. Preservation
would be set into motion by collecting epoxy and polymer paints. Teams would go
down and work on cleaning the parts of the ship that are wanted preserved and
eventually paint them with the anti-fouling paint. Expeditions will be allowed to go
down and look at the wreckage and take small artifacts from the remains as long it
is done legally. Although, once the preservative paint wears away, the ship will be
left to nature to decide the fate of the ship and how much longer it will live as a
memorial. Keeping the Titanic preserved and under the ocean appeals to both
arguments. Keeping the Titanic where she lies keeps the history of the tragedy fresh
in the minds of historians and civilians alike, while being in tact for exploration and
study.

Works Cited
Ballard, Robert D. "Long-term Preservation of Deep-water Sites." Archaeological
Oceanography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2008. 258-61. Print.
Broad, William J. "Experts Split on Possibility of Remains at Titanic Site." The New
York Times. N.p., 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
Foster, Kevin J. "Vessel Preservation Standards." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

History.com Staff. "Titanic." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 29

Sept. 2015.

Lewis, Danny. "There's New Hope for Preserving the Wreck of the TItanic." History,
Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian. N.p., 4 Sept. 2015. Web.
01 Oct. 2015.
Sides, Hampton. "The Titanic, Illuminated." National Geographic Apr. 2012: 78-99.
Web.

Titanic at 100: Mystery Solved. Dir. Rushmore DeNooyer. Perf. Parks Stephenson.
History Channel, 2012. DVD.
Vergano, Dan. "USA TODAY: Latest World and US News." USA Today. Gannett, 4 Apr.
2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.
Washington, Roxanne. "Northeast Ohio." User Generated Content, Comments, Pics,
Videos & Forums. N.p., 31 May 2013. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
Weirich, Jeremy B. "R.M.S Titanic 2004 Expedition." (2004): n. pag. NOAA. Web. 27
Sept. 2015.