The Titanic Was Found Thanks to a Secret Nuclear Sub Search Mission

Everyone is familiar with the tale of the Titanic and its tragic voyage in 1912, which ended in an unforeseen collision with an iceberg. The tale was intriguing when it first occurred and has remained so for more than a century. When a team commanded by Naval officer Robert Ballard found the Titanic's wreckage on the ocean below in 1985, the story really reached its zenith.

It was a great thing that it was found again after nearly three quarters of a century of being lost. It was difficult to locate because it was 12,000 feet under the water. But when they did locate it, it was the first time that the fact that the ship had actually split in two as it sank was well known.

Nobody knew at the time, and we wouldn't find out for many years, that the expedition to find the Titanic had been a hoax. Actually, it was a mission to find two nuclear submarines that had sunk. The military made up the Titanic narrative as a smokescreen so that nobody would know—especially the Russians—that the remnants of the two subs were being examined to see how their armaments and power supplies were faring in that environment.

Ironically, the research was completed with 12 days to spare, so the team chose to utilize the extra time to actually hunt for the Titanic. They were successful in doing so, which served as the ideal cover for the actual mission.