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How Deep Is the Titanic Wreck?
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Wreck of the Titanic Into the Deep
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Wreck of the Titanic
Wreck of the Titanic The Titanic's bow, photographed by the remotely operated vehicle Hercules during a 2004 expedition to the wreck, which sits 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

How Deep Is the Titanic Wreck?

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The wreck of the Titanic lies approximately 12,500 feet (3,810 meters)—or 2.4 miles (3.9 km)—beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The extreme depth made discovering the ocean liner difficult. Within days of the Titanic’s sinking in 1912, talk began of finding the wreck. However, it was not until 1985 that the ocean liner was finally located. Robert Ballard led the expedition, which was partly a means for testing the Argo, a 16-foot (5-meter) submersible sled equipped with a remote-controlled camera that could transmit live images to a monitor on the research vessel. On September 1, 1985, the first underwater images of the Titanic were recorded as its giant boilers were discovered.

Since then a number of missions have been undertaken to explore the Titanic. However, the depth poises challenges. The pressure at 12,500 feet is immense, making it a hazardous environment for both manned and unmanned submersibles. This was apparent when the Titan submersible imploded in 2023 while attempting to visit the wreckage. In addition, the Titanic is located in the “midnight zone,” which means it is in complete darkness.

Just how deep is 12,500 feet? Scroll through the diagram to discover the depth of the Titanic—as well as other shipwrecks and marine features.

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