More than 100 years after the “Titanic” catastrophe, a 3D scan brings moving details to light.
It is the night on April 14, 1912 when the horror begins for around 2,000 passengers. When the Titanic scraps an iceberg, nobody panic at first. Because the line ship is considered unsinkable. A 3D scan of the wreck that scientists evaluated now shows: the ship-and thus the passengers-had no chance. Almost 1,500 people died in the catastrophe. And there could have been much more victims.
The Titanic is now located in the North Atlantic on the bottom of the ocean, about 650 kilometers southeast from the coast of Neufundland. This is exactly where scientists sent underwater robots. At 3,800 meters deep, they took around 700,000 pictures of the wreck. The result is a new 3D model that provides information about the last few minutes on the ship. The scientists have evaluated the model in recent months: the findings are to become part of a new documentary over the last hours of the luxury steamer. “Titanic is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster and still has stories to tell,” says Parks Stephenson, who has been dealing with the “Titanic” for years, the BBC.
The “Titanic” is the last surviving eyewitness to the disaster and still has stories to tell.
Park Stephenson, author and “Titanic” expert
The recordings show that the “Titanic” was far less stable than suspected at the time. Due to the collision with the iceberg, the damage would have extended over a large part of the ship, says Simon Benson, lecturer for shipbuilding at the University of Newcastle, the BBC. Sometimes quite small holes were created. But even through it, water has penetrated slowly but surely.
The 3D scan also suggests that parts of the iceberg have pierced a bull eye of the ship. At the time, some survivors had reported that ice cream had entered their cabins.
The analysis of the 3D model apparently also proves what had previously only been suspected by eyewitness reports: the crew of the “Titanic” tried to maintain the lighting on board until the bitter end in order to save as many passengers as possible. The pictures show that some of the boilers inside the ship were very likely to be in operation when the “Titanic” went down. It also fits that a valve was discovered in an open position on the deck. Means: At the time of the accident, steam must still be poured into the electricity generation system.
The engineers acted heroically, says ship expert Benson of the BBC. “You kept the chaos in chess as long as possible.” Due to the light, more passengers were fleeing and saving on the rescue boats. The engineers paid this with their lives. A total of only 700 people were saved, around 200 crew members.
The evaluation of the 3D recordings should also become important for further research on “Titanic”. Because in 30 to 40 years the wreck on the seabed could have completely decomposed, experts estimate. Until then, the now evaluated recordings should bring many secrets of the “Titanic” to light.
